F 74 
.N5 03 
Copy 2 



kkUSfMTED 



m'fjs/ ^f 





\3 







r --V^ 




FOR LA^PliS mo CMlLDaiN.e 




i-taiTiing the stockings. By 

!•■ Imiden of the clothes is 

tlieshoulderbest adapted to 

rting everything without 



. gomfort ^or^ct. 

In the iihici- of bones we insert continuous rows of 

very »iiff cord, which frive nil the support of bones 

with til.' aihantage of yielding to every moTement 

of lilt' forui, and of being washed without changing 
tiic — ot thegarment. Stylish and tasty as a French 
■I, \ rt combining ease and comfort with elegance 

and shape, our Corset has the unqualified approval of 

every physician that has seen it. For Children the ad- 
vent of this Corset marks a new era in Children's 

Waists. No movement of the arms can displace the 
shoulder socket, stockings and skirts are always in position, and all is ease and comfort. Walking or run- 
ning, sitting down or jumping rope, it is all the same. We lace the Lady's Corset ; the Child's Waist but- 
tons in the back, but it is a perfect little corset in its beauty of fitness to the form. Each Corset is 
stamped with two numbers signifying the Iwo nieasurements— the first being the size in inches around 
the waist, and the second around the shoulders, and the variations are such that any lady or child can 




I lie VTMKSft, IIUU 

be easily fitted. 
Directions lor Measurement lor the 
Lady's Corset. 



■ moderately, 
.V, and iiiaKe no aeouciion. 
of the Ladies' Comfort Corset in stock 

I follows : 

Waist. Shoulder. 



and make no deduct 




The Child's Waist 



For the Child's Comlort 'Waist; also 
the "Twin 'Waist." 

iicnt as in the Lady's Co" 
are should be takei. _ 
added for buttoning. 

f the Child's Comfort and Twin Waists 

Shoulder. 



? of London Cord, 



Makinfr 26 different sizes. It is made of the fin- 
est Satteen, white and drab. 

Samples of the Ladies' Corset sent by mail, post paid, upon receipt of $2, with the WAIST 
and SHOULDER measures, taken as per directions given above. Child's Comfort Waist, 
Satteen, 75 cts. to 85 cts., each ; London Cord, $1.25. Child's " Twin " Waists, 50 cts. 

LIBERAL DISCOUNTS TO AGENTS AND THE TRADE. 

MANUFACTURED AND FOR SALE BY THE 

M&st@m 00mf&rt ^ars^t 0Qm^amy, 

76 Chauncey Street, Boston, Mass. 




GEO. 1.0 BBOWK'BLIL^ 

ACUSHNET AVENUE, Corner Cannon Street, NEW BEDFORD, MASS. 



-MANUFACTUKER AND DEALER IN- 



Latest Improved and New Designs. Send for Illustrated Catalogue and Price iList. Lai*jre Stock eou- 
stantly on hand. No waiting to order. 

GILES G. BARKER, Superintendent. 

MBNWBMB€ FMAMMm €%.., 

24 Couffvess Street, Boston, 3Iass. 

Order Box No. 250 Mechanics' Exchange (25 Hawley Street*. 

MILLS AT FAIRFIELD, MAINE. 

Miinufaeturin-s of and Wliolesalo an.l Kt-tail Dealers in 

FRAMES and all KINDS OF FINISH 



For Buildings of Every Description, Framed and Fitted by Machinery. 

Wholesale Dealers in Long- and Short l.uinliir, ICiln-driid Liiiiihc-r of all kinds, Doors, Glazed Window 

Blinds Painted and Trimniid. |)..(.i;in.l Wm.lnw KiaTncs, Moulding-s and Brackets. 

Partirulai- attrition -i^ .■!■ to 

FURNISHING MATERIAL FOR LARGE JOBS. 

O. H. SMITH, Manaycr- .TAMES M. PALMKK, 7V.yi.v. A. DAVIS, Agent. 




a-i^.A.i^T's 



Revolving and Self-Cleansing Filter. 

The only Self-Cleansing Filter ever invented, and the only one which 
domestics will keep clean. Filters that are not easily and often cleansed 



are worse than i 



J. GRANT 6c CO. 



Sole Proprietors, 



24 Cotigi'ess Street, Boston. 

Public Institutions, such as hospitals, asylums, etc., should not be without them. Direc- 
tions with every Filter. They fit any faucet. Price, $2. 



S P BINGI''j( 1<! LB HOUSE, 



3SriVIXtVl.Cl5.Ot, IVX£t!SS.y 




i~iutlv located on the shore of 
ki t Haiboi, within convenient 
. . f the Po<<t Office «!tcamboat 



iiliiiln Hithciutthc danfc'i 1 which 

I them ^\hen pla\mg on the 

Owing to the inoieaMng pat- 

. 1 the Sininjihild Hou<ie, it has 

und ni cfv^m topioMde further 

]iii(iditii.ns than heietofoie for 

—=: ANNEX HOUSES^- 



neail}' opposite the 



to the 



-^ ~^- -- 1 1 II them as if quartered 

OPEN ALL THE YEAR ROUND. WELL FURNISHED BILLIARD ROOMS CON- 
NECTED WITH HOUSE. SS=NO BAR. 
TERMS: Transient, S2 to $2.50 per Day. For the Season, $8 to $12 per Week. 

C. H. MOWRY, Clerk. A. S. MO WRY, PROPRIETOR. 



:^GEi4M vyiEM' .HQ.US* 
^.i: SI Asco N SET, :k._. 



WALTER S. CHASE, 



Proprietor. 



This Hotel is situated on a bluff commanding an v.nobstructed 
view of the broad Atlantic. 

Surf Bathing unsurpassed on the Atlantic coast. All of our fish 

are caught in sight of the House. Clams dug fresh 

every day. Fresh eggs, fresh milk. Just 

the place for Children. 

Guests will receive every attention to make their stay at the 
Ocean View Hotise pleasant and agreeable. 



^ 



lK[rImrn^ 




w 



NANTUCKET, Mass. 



THOS, H, SOULE, Jr. 



Proprietor. 



This House is situated on high land, with an uner|ualed view of the Harbor and 
Sound, and is strieth' first-chiss. 




ag IlifitJ litfiiset 



t 



Nantucket. Mass. 



JE, JD, MATCH, 



Proprietor 



This House is splendidlj' located, commanding a fine view of the Harbor and Bay. 
From the Cupola, a bird's eye view of the whole Island can be seen, including the 
whole south shore out on to the broad Atlantic. 

Rooms Large and Airy— Table First-class— Prices Reasonable. 

The management will spare no pains or expense to please his guests. 

No better fishing-grounds can be found on the Xew England coast than in this 
locality. 



i 



Mfi 



Cor Acushnet Ave & Union St NEW BEDFORD, Mass. 



* c 



&5^^ii;* 



^ 1 









-li 1 " 









: p5 1 



-2 fe^ 



-i:mm^- 



*.-'ai 5 






2 I 



f ^ 



[^f $2.00 H O U S L I N T H b CI 1 \ . ' ■- W'^HJ^l 

F. C. BANCROFT, Proprietor. 

-4 HAMiiftM aeasi 



.'*^f 



Newly Fitted and Furnished Throughout. 

PRICES REASONABLE, TO CORRESPOND WITH THE TIMES. 

Sili&iARD mOOm &MB BARBER SHOP 

CONNECTED WITH THE HOUSE. 

•4Jo. 87 pnion §trcct, - ■ New Bedford, JaAA. 
E. R. RICHARDS. PROPRIETOR. 

A Complete Guide to the WHITE MOUNTAINS. Price, 25 Cts. 

Picturesque Narragansett Sea and Shore, 

With Illustrated Providemce and Newport. Price, 35 Cts. 
For sale by Newsdealers, or sent, post paid, on receipt of priee, by 

J. A. & R. A. REID, Publishers, 

PROVIDENCE, R. I. 



IMPORTANT IMPROVEMENT 



i 



f.:Ei<j-C3fTtJi^'vxi<Taf 



The Gkavuketype Company, of Xo. 15; 
been experimenting upon a novel procis.-- I'f i 
their experiments. By this process, pen anil ii 
etchings, lithographs, wood and steel en^ravii 
to the originals. Even lathe work, not to be 



Fort-hill Square, who have for the past year 
ii-iavin-;, have at last successfully completed 
k ,|i:i\\ iiigs, stipple and grained crayon work, 
l;s, laii be reproduced with absolute fidelity 
joniplished by wood engraving, can be per- 



fectly imitated by this delicate and ingenious process, which will receive the appreciation 
of art connoisseurs, ns an artist's original designs are followed with pliotographic exactness, 
thus preserving all tlie effects of the first drawing. To books of all kinds, to periodicals, 
and to business-men using embellishments in advertising, the Gkavubettpe process opens 
a new field, where taste and economy combine to the advantage of those applying it in any 
way. — Boston Courier. 




GHAVURETYPE CO., 



159 FORT-HILL SQUARE, 



BOSTON. 




IIOLMAN LIYER PAD. 



powerfully at-te'l upun 



HOLMAN LIVER PAD CO., 



124 Tremont Street, 



ESTABLISHED 1845. 

<3rGO. H. ivrorrill cfc CJo., 

LITHOGRAPHIC INKS, VARNISHES, &c. 

WORKS: Norwood, Mass. 30 HAWLEY STREET, BOSTON. 

This work is printed with ink madi- by this Imiisi.-. 



^Established, tSG4., 



I. C« ^^HITCOMB & CO., 

22 Milk Street, Boston, Mass. 



In all its Branches at Lowest Rates. 



-m^ 



Rheumatism, Gout and Neuralgia, 

MANUFACTURED BY THE 

OF PARIS A\l) LHIPZIG. 

p j ^P ^ NO MORE J i^il S,,(ret-Thc only dis.solvcr of 

, , ■5»' OR GOUT "•Ml ; :;' 'M'':':'"'s;.„?'t; 

' V ^ ACUTEOR CHRONIC A :nu ,,: • ,|ii ,,f pri.-,.. 

W)Vi;,o; t '.cmcsouto,<^# SURE CURE. ** ■ AddrosT ■• 

Only Importers' Depot, 212 Broadway, cor. Fulton Street (Knox Building), 



Immediate ichef 
Permanent (nie i 
Now i\,liisu,l\ , 



BealEsiaieBrokerJnsnraiceApnt'AEtiflieer. 

0@Wf J^.©1S MMJi) BQf SJ FOB SJ^ll, 

COTTAGES AND TENTS TO RENT. 

Contracts taken for Cottage Building, Painting and Repairing. Personal attention given to 
all Contracts, and to the Care of Cottages the year round. 

Office, Dr. Glnn's Block. Residence, No. 18 Kennehec Ave. 

OAK BLUFFS, MARTHA'S VINEYARD. 



W. H.H.Smith s 
Hack, Livery and Boarding 




Head of Steamboat Wharf, Nantucket, Mass. 

SINGLE TEAMS, WITH OR WITHOUT DRIVERS. 

A NICE EXCURSION WAGON FOR PARTIES. 
HACKS FOR THE PUBLIC CONVEYANCE AT ALL HOURS. 

BAGGAGE TAKEN TO AND FROM THE BOATS. 




Snow Brothers, 

348 WasJtingtou Street, - - BOSTON. 

Maiuil'aeture to oitler the onl.v 
PERFECT SLIDING PATE]S"T 

WINDOW SCREENS 



Diploma awarded at the late Mechanics' Fair. 
These Screens can be used for the top as well as the bottom 
of the window, and may he removed by simply pressing the screen 
to the left. State and County Rights for sale. 
Estimates given on application by mail or otherwise. 
Orders solicited and attended to personally. 

Satisfaction guaranteed. 

Liberal Discount to the trade. 
They also manufacture all styles of SCREEN DOORS. A specialty made of 

WINDOW SHADES AND FIXTURES, 

Gilt Mouldings, Draperies, and Interior Work generally, constantly on hand. 

Rubber Mouldings and Weather Strips, Wire Cloth, Landscape Wire, Curtain Materials, 
Picture Cord, Tassels, etc., constantly on hand and for sale. 

These Screens can be manufactured by giving dimensions required, and shipped to any 
point, ready to be put up. 

!5^= We Caution all persons against selling, vending, or using our Improved Sliding 
Window Screen, held in place by springs on side, unless stamped with our name and date 
of Letters Patent. 



SNOW BROTHERS. 



j^ARLpmS PHOTOGRAPHS 

FINE, STYLISH, 

CALL AND SEE THEM. - 

-:%g BUSmESS MEN. 

FINE COMMERCIAL— ESbs^ 

-JOB PRINTING.- 

We take this method of inforiiiin»r business men in general that we now have unequaled facilities for 



WB JiL,SQ EBBP A FVLE MNB OF BUBINBaa SWAmONiBBYi 

and can furnish all kinds of Envelopes and Pai)ers at the lowest prices. We also have in stock and can 
furnish to order Blank Books of all styles and patterns. Persons in want of anything in our line will do 
weutogiveusacan. Hespeetfun. .ours, ^^^g ^ KNIGHT. 

4S William Street, Robeson Buililing, • - - ■ NEW BEDFORD. 

-^ICITY STEAM LAUNDRY, j:-^ 

M&t 5^g AQushaM AT§nu§f , =^ = ^g^ B§Mm^-. 

ALL KINDS OF LAUNDRY WORK DONE WITH 
NEATNESS AND DISPATCH. 

Branch OOlcc : 

jSTo. 5() Sainoset ^Vventie, - - Oak Blnffs. 
E. H. NEIL, Agent. 



CSIT 



Beds aiiil( Mi> iii ilic w.ulil. Senil lor circulars. Sent 
receipt of i>rifc. i.r i '. n. |». 

H ERMO N W. LADD, 
I St., Nrn VoiK ; I«.5 >o. 3.1 St., Philndclphia. 



ThcSTANYAN BREAD MIXER | KNEADER. 



entcl the " .Stanyau Bread Mixer atid Kn 

lavB always IVIt. It Cuts and Bkats up thk Dough .\t thk Same Time, a proce 

vllicli^'ives vou a fiiR-, li^'lit biwiii. No kilclicn should be wiiliuut it. 

(.Sisiied). M. PARLOA. 

Fninii)' Mixm, nilh eooil pnn, l^'i.OO nnd '^•i.-iH. Sold at Kitihon FurnisI 
ng Stores, and at 34 Mcliool m., Boston. »«TAIVYAIV COItiPANV. 



-^}t^ICJI^^ND*^?TYLI3P3i^ 





CAN ALWAYS BE FOUND 
AT 

H.H.KOOinHGi.CO,'S, 

Mm-. 4 mm^ § 

Purchase Street, 

NEW BEDFORD. 

THEIR STOCK IS ALWAYS THE LARGEST. THEIR STYLES THE NEWEST. 

THEIR PRICES THE LOWEST. 

They have also a well selected stock of 

CORSETS, GLOVES, MITTS, TIES, COLLARS, CUFFS, RUCHES, LACES, &o., and a nice 
assortment of SMALL WARES generally. 

Ladies wanting anything in their line should be sure to call on them, 

J^os. 4 and 6 PURCHASE STREET. 

E. ANTHONY & SONS, 

c:r-- PUBLISHERS OF^^:Xj 

•■^EVENING STAND ABD,-?^- 

Much Largest Circulation of any Daily in Southern Massachusetts ; 
Largest Circulation of any Weekly in this section of the State. 

JOB PRINTING 

IN BEST STYLES, AT REASONABLE RATES. 

67 UNION STREET, - - NEW BEDFORD. MASS. 

-R,. 'B'. iFESSEinsriDEisr, 

DEALER IN 



huff', ww///^ 'm^^ea^, '^WlaU, '^W//, 
16 South Water St„ - - New Bedford, 

All orders promptly filled. Satisfaction guaranteed or money refunded. 




SIITHiOS., 

M Mmli Sliajes, 

CLOSES, Ac, 

For Gas and Oil Fixtures. 

Vases, Ouspadores, Jardiniers. 



1 numerous styles, all in Vitri- 
fied Euamel Colors, and war- 
ranted imperishable. 

Specialties: VASES, 

SHADES, GLOBES, 

CARD RECEIVERS, 

Berry Dishes, &c. 

Adapted to the wants of manu- 
facturers of silver ware (for 
mounting), and suited to general 
trade in Fancy Articles, Home 
Ornaments, Bridal Presents,&c. 

Samples at Showroom, 

Robeson Block, - New Bedford, 

Mass. 

(IfficL- and Workt; : 

NEW BEDFORD, MASS. 



DEAI.KR IIV 

Books, Stationery and Newspapers, 

MANILLA AND STRAW WRAPPING PAPER, 
105 «fc 107 Union and 123 Purchase Sts., 



ADAPTED FOR ALL PUKl'OSKS \VHKl;K fO.M.MoX SOAP OR WASHING POW- 
DER IS REQUIRED. 

AS A t,AUNDUY SOAP IT HAS NO EQUAX. 

Warranted not to injure the Finest Fabrics and to wash Flannels without shrinking. 
ASK YOUR GROCER FOR IT. 

IVIANUFACTURED BY 

Chas. E. p. Delano, 



School, corner First Street, 



:yEn BEUFORD, Mass. 



C. H. CHURCH, 



• DEALER IN 




Dnigs, Medicines 

— ■ ^^Sfi- "^ 

^lc;qpiD-s-cpEpic^li3;}e^ 

Fancy and toilet articles, Sponges, Brushes, 
perfumery, etc. 

Purchase, cor. Middle Street, - New Bedford, Mass. 

Physicians' Prescriptions carefully compounded, and orders answered with 
care and dipatch. 

IF. a-. m?.ix^i=. 



-»EAI.ER IN- 




Oil Cloths, 

MATS, 
Rugs, Etc. 



173 



PURCHASE 
STREET, 



NEW BEDFOED, 

2J MASS. 



#l!ffe* 



jfARTHAsV'^ 




15 'i 



Open July 1, 1879. 

Its facilities for BOATING, FISHING and BATHING are unsurpassed, and it has the FINEST 
LOCATION OF ANY SUMMER HOUSE ON THE COAST. It will be run under the same 
management as heretofore, and will continue to be first-class in every respect. Parties can engage 
rooms by addressing Parker House, New Bedford, Mass., or Sea View House, Oak Bluffs, 
M. V. 

HOLDER M. BROWNELL, Proprietor. 




I PARKER HOUSE, 



3 



NEW BEDFORD, Mass. 



The only first-class liouse in the city. Offers superior accommodations to tourists en. route for 
Martha's Vineyard. LOCATION UNSURPASSED. Charges according to Rooms. 
First-class Livery Stable in connection with the House. 



H. M. BROWNELL, Proprietor. 



f .^ '^ — ^ m^ is 

ILLUSTRATED 





Martha's Vineyard 



NANTUCKET. 



SKETCHES OF DISCOVERIES, ABORIGINES, SETTLERS, WARS, INCI- 
DENTS, TOWNS, HAMLETS, SCENES, CAMP MEETINGS, 
COTTAGES AND INTERESTING LOCALITIES, 



^i^ MAPS -^ OF -5- THE -^ ISI. A WDS.=i^ 



'G Rev. FREDERIC DENISON, A. M., 

^^ Corresponding Member of R. I. His. .Society, .'iiid of 

Q, Wis. His. Society. 







■^^ PROVIDENCE- 

J. A. & R. ^\IEi5, Printers, Publishers and Engravers. 



k ^ ^ 




z-*^ 



^JiHai^ 



ittfmt. 




HE full story of New Bedford would be an epic ; that of the Elizabeth 
Isles a song ; that of Martha's Vineyard a revelation ; that of Nantucket 
a romance. In each case we should find truth stranger than fiction. 
'*s) To the thousands who annually flock to these places and to all the 
dwellers in these regions, we present a vade mecum. It were easy to 
fill a large volume, but we have chosen to select such facts and scenes 
as will interest and profit the largest number of readers. Besides 
thoroughly consulting whatever has been written relative to these beautiful and historic 
shores, we have engaged in independent observations, and have endeavored to 
arrange all in an order as natural and convenient as possible. 

Since the pictorial is always pleasing, and is now in great demand, we are happy 
to have associated with us well-known artists. 

The illustrations are under the management of James S. Foy, sculpt., from the 
pencil of George G. White, after William A. Wall, pinxt., and landscapes and ma- 
rines by Fred. B. Schell, A. L. Bodwell and J. F. Hallowell. The enterprising firm 
having the whole in hand, enjoy an established reputation for thorough and reliable 
work in all that they undertake. 

Special acknowledgments for helps and hints are due to William A. Wall, 
painter, S. F. Adams and Geo. F. Parlow, photographers, Wm. P. S. Cadwell, Esq., 
and Capt. Thomas B. Hathaway, of New Bedford ; to Woodward & Sons and R. E. 
Shute, photographers, and Rev. H. Vincent, R. L. Pease, Lewis Smith and Capt. 
C. C. Smith, of Martha's Vineyard ; and to F. C. Sanford, J. Freeman, B. G. Tobey, 
A. H. Gardner, and Folger & Rich, of Nantucket. 



yune, 1879. 



C;>^ ^::^^<?*--<--^«iE-<s«--»^ 



0titetit0* 



THE WAY — 


PAOB. 






Routes of Travel, 


17 


Recreations, 






Edgartown, 




I. NEW BEDFORD, . 


19 


Katama, 




Buzzard's Bay . 


27 


Chilmark, 




Elizabeth Isles, 


28 


Gay Head, 




The Aborigines, 


30 




First Settlers, . 


32 


III. NANTUCKET, . 




Vineyard Sound, 


34 


Nantucket Sound, 
The Islands, . 




11. MARTHA'S VINEYARD, 


35 


The Harbor, . 




Vineyard Haven, 


35 


Whaling, . 




Tisbury, .... 


35 


The Town, 




Camp Meetings, 


38 


Public Buildings, 




Wesleyan Grove, 


39 


House of Commons, 




Oak Bluffs, 


44 


The Windmill, . 




Vineyard Highlands, 


46 


SlASCONSET, 




Hotels, .... 


47 


Excursions, 




Avenues and Parks, . 


48 

-1 


Fishing, 





f i0t 0f §Uu0ttmttmw> 



I. NEW BEDFORD— pa«e. 
City of New Bedford, . .21 
Commencement of Whale Fishery, 23 
High School, . .25 

City Hall, 27 

St. James' Church, . . .29 
Unitarian Church, . . -31 

Vineyard Haven, . -33 

II. MARTHA'S VINEYARD — 
Map of Martha's Vineyard, . 37 
Oak Bluffs and Camp Ground, . 39 
The Iron Tabernacle, . . 41 
Union Chapel, . . . -43 
Methodist Chapel, . . .45 
Baptist Chapel, , . . .47 



Beach and Lover's Rock, . 
Twin Cottage, . 
Dr. H. A. Tucker's Cottage, 
Oldest House, Edgartown, . 
Glimpse of Edgartown, 
Gay Head Light, 
Landing of Gosnold, 

in. NANTUCKET — 
Map of Nantucket, 
Town of Nantucket, 
Low Beach, 
Old Mill, . 
Wreck, 
Siasconset, 






■"AMERICAN, 



^p^«ify^^^^j^5]'" , I BOSTON. 

56 Hanover Street. 



-olass Hotel, noted throughout the country for its Cleanliness, Connfort, Ur 

Exeellenee of Table and Liberality of Management. Particularly 

desirable fop Families and Summer Tourists. 



•4pa66enger glevator. 



^^erfcct Ventilation. 



The only Transient Hotel (on the American Plan), having Running Water in 
Every Chamber. 



Prices Reduced to $3.00 and $3.50 per Day. 



Hooins at S2..W pt'i 



DEALERS AND CONSUMERS 



Chemicals, Dye-stuffs, Drugs, 



J 



PAINTERS' MATERIALS 

Of Every Description, 

Who desire reliable goods at the lowest prices, will find it for their advantafre before purchasing 
elsewhere, to call on 

RICE, STARKWEATHER & CO., 

.Successors of Rice, Dkapkk vfc Co., 

No, 25 Exchange Place, - Providence, R, I, 




t Mnu* 



ROUTES OF TRAVEL TO OAK BLUFFS, ETC. 



(^/'Q/H j'l'em Ijoik. 



'he New York, New Haven and 
[artford Railroad, from Grand 
Central Depot, via Hartford, 
and Springfield, to South Fram- 
ingham, Mass., on Boston & 
Albany Railroad, connecting 
there with northern division of Old Colony 
Railroad, for New Bedford, thence by 
steamers to Oak Bluffs, or via Taunton, 
Middleton to Wood's Hole and thence 
by steamer to Oak Bluffs. 

2. The Shore Line, from Grand Cen- 
tral Depot to Providence and Boston, 
connecting at Attleboro' or Mansfield with 
Old Colony Railroad, for New Bedford 
or Wood's Hole. 

3. The Old Colony Line of Steamers 
connecting at Fall River with trains for 
Wood's Hole. 

4. The Providence line of steamers 
from Pier 29, North River, to Providence, 
thence by Boston & Providence Railroad 
to Attleboro or Mansfield, connecting 
with Old Colony Railroad for Wood's 
Hole or New Bedford. 

5. The Stonington Line, Pier t,2>^ 
North River, to Providence, thence same I 
as via Providence Line. 

6. The New Bedford Line of steamers 



direct to New Bedford, connecting there 
with boat for Oak Bluffs. 

7. The Norwich Line of Steamers 
from Pier 40, North River to New Lon- 
don, thence to Worcester, connecting 
there with Providence & Worcester 
Railroad for Providence, thence by Bos- 
ton & Providence Railroad to Attleboro' 
or Mansfield, to New Bedford or Wood's 
Hole or direct from New London to Bos- 
ton, thence as per route described for 
Boston. 

8. The Portland Line of Steamers, 
stopping at Vineyard every Tuesday and 
Friday. 



Smm SoMan. 



The New Bedford and Old Colony 
j Lines from Boston are consolidated under 
one management. 

The stations in Boston are the Old 
Colony Depot at the junction of South 
and Kneeland streets, and the Boston & 
Providence Depot on Columbus avenue. 

From the Old Colony Depot passen- 
gers are carried over the Old Colony 
Railroad to Taunton and New Bedford, 
or via Middleton to Wood's Hole. 

From the Boston and Providence 
Depots passengers go via Boston & 



18 



NEW BEDFORD ILLUSTRATED. 



Providence Railroad to Mansfield, thence 
to New Bedford or Wood's Hole. (See 
Book.) 

There is no material difference in the 
running time of the two lines; via the 
New Bedford there are twenty-five miles 
of steamboat ride, and via Wood's 
Hole only seven. The steamboat ride 
from New Bedford is exceedingly pleas- 
ant, in fine weather, and a cheerful relief 
from the heat and dust of the cars. From 
Wood's Hole the ride of seven miles is 
also attractive ; and to people susceptible 
to sea sickness, it is perhaps, the favorite. 
Both have their attractions, however. The 
running time from Boston is about three 
hours and a half. 



<!Imm 3iQpidmce. 

1. Trains for Oak Bluffs arrive and 
depart from the Boston and Providence 
Depot on Exchange Place. Go to Attle- 
boro or Mansfield, thence to New Bed- 
ford and steamer from there or to Wood's 
Hole, and then take steamer. 

2. Steamer direct from Providence : 
During the summer season excursion 

steamers run between Providence and 
the Vineyard two or three times a week. 



By Providence & Worcester Railroad 
to Providence; Boston & Providence 
Railroad to Attleboro or Mansfield, 
thence to New Bedford or Wood's Hole ; 
or direct from Providence by steamers. 



cFmm yyeMem 

mid Jrtm {/mk Siaie. 

By the Boston & Albany Railroad to 
Worcester, thence . by Providence & 
Worcester Railroad to Providence, and 
from Providence as per route described, 
or to South Framingham and thence to 
New Bedford or Wood's Hole ; or to Bos- 
ton and thence as per route for Boston. 

By Hoosac Tunnel route to Worcester, 
thence via Providence & Worcester Rail- 
road to Providence ; or to Boston and 
thence as per route described. 



(Hiom Jfolihttn Jcem Sn^fund. 

By morning express trains, running 
from White Mountains to Boston ; or 
direct to New Bedford or Providence. 

Passengers via Boston are transferred 
across the city in carriages ; via New 
Bedford or Providence cars run direct. 



Mtm 



WtM 



iiiir&» 



A 



Her gallant ships, with daring- crews. 

Far sped by every breeze, 
Returned with princely revenues 

From utmost lands and seas. 



lALTING a while in this beauti- 
ful city, on the western arm of 
Buzzard's Bay, the terminus of 
various railroads, a port of 
J,|_ maritime renown, and famed 
also for mechanical enterprise and char- 
acter, we are justified in glancing at its 
history and looking on some of its sug- 
gestive edifices. Indeed, the city stands 
closely connected in history and life with 
the islands which we are to visit. 

This region was once a part of the old 
township of Dartmouth, and its Indian 
name was Acushnet, a name still borne 
by the river, or arm of the bay, and by 
the village above the city. Fairhaven, 
that cosily nestles on the eastern bank of 
the river, and New Bedford, were settled 
near the same time, — not far from 1760. 
The first name chosen was Bedford, from 
the Duke of Bedford, but finally the term 
" New" was added to distinguish it from 
iinother town in the commonwealth. 

The first house was built by John Lou- 
den, on what is now the corner of Water 
and Union streets. The first settlers in 
the old township appear to have been 
Quakers, among whom was Joseph Rotch, 
a man of foresight and energy, who, from 
his knowledge of whaling in Nantucket, 



began the business from this port, build- 
ing a house, stores, wharves, and pro- 
curing from France the right to e.xport 
oil to that country free of duty, a meas- 
ure that brought wealth to the town. 

Of the very first whaling efforts here, 
under the management of Joseph Rus- 
sell, — reckoned the founder of the 
place, — we are told that the monsters 
were caught on the coast and brought 
into the harbor as blubber. The landing- 
place, with the original try-works, was 
near the foot of Centre street, whither 
the blubber was drawn by o.xen. A 
spirited representation of this spot and 
its operations are given in our cut, taken 
from the valuable painting executed by 
New Bedford's prized artist, William A. 
Wall, and entitled "The Origin of the 
Whale Fishery," and first put on exhibi- 
tion in 1853. 

Mr. Wall, is also, be it said to his 
honor, the author of the painting entitled 
"The Landing of Gosnold," first ex- 
hibited in 1842, and from which we have 
secured our engraving. 

Going back to the early times of this 
region we find many curious records in 
reference to the honest Quakers and 
what they suffered for their principles at 



NEW BEDFORD ILLUSTRATED. 



the hands of the ruling powers. Some of 
their assemblies were termed " meetings 
for sufferings," and so they were in a 
two-fold sense. And the early Baptists 
had their memorable experiences, as wit- 
nesses the following record : — 

" The first Baptist minister who 
preached statedly in New Bedford was Pe- 
leg Burroughs, pastor of the First Baptist 
Church in the then called Dartmouth 
Church, now Tiverton. This church was 
formed in 1686, and its worthy pastors ; 
suffered much persecution from the un- , 
just laws of clerical taxation in Mas- | 
sachusetts. One of them, refusing to [ 
give his cow for the tax, as that was 
needful for his family's sustenance, was 
imprisoned nine months." 

The first building for religious purposes 
in New Bedford was the Friend's Meet- 
ing-House, erected in 1785 on what is ■ 
now the east side of Third, between 
School and Walnut streets. 

These ecclesiastical incidents remind us 
of an eminent divine, who labored in old j 
Dartmouth, Dr. Samuel West, settled in 
I 761, regarded as a man of great abilities, 
but somewhat eccentric. His wife, being I 
a very tall woman, and named Experience, 
was the occasion of his true and well- 1 
remembered statement, that he knew 
what it was to have an e.xcellent wife, 
from long experience. On a certain Sab- 
bath, when opening the public services, 
he discovered that he had left his sermon 
in his study, a quarter of a mile from the 1 
church. Nothing daunted, he selected a 
psalm in long metre of about fifteen ^ 
verses, and, giving it out, withdrew and 
performed the journey to the parsonage 1 
and back in season to proceed with his , 
discourse. This will be believed when 
we remember that in the early New Eng- I 
land psalmody the tunes were formed of 
whole notes, and so drawled withal, that 



one stated that he had stopped several' 
times to catch breath on a single note. 

We are told that the first true ship built 
in New Bedford was the Dartmouth, 
launched in 1767, having been construct- 
ed " under some buttonwood trees, near 
where Hazard's wharf now lies." She 
became historic. On her return from a 
London voyage, having carried over 
whale oil from Nantucket, she brought 
some of the famous tea that was so rudely 
steeped, by disguised hands, in the cool 
water of Boston harbor. Capt. Hall had 
on board 114 chests of the detested and 
rejected article, that went overboard with- 
out formality on the evening of Novem- 
ber 16, 1773. 

The first candle factory in the place 
was built prior to the Revolution by 
Joseph Russell, and stood near the pres- 
ent corner of Centre and Front streets, 
and was burnt by the British during the 
war. 

We have alluded to Joseph Russell as 
the father of New Bedford. They tell 
us that his house stood near the head 
of the present William street, and Union 
street was his cart-path. 

But few cities can boast equal beauty 
of situation and arrangement with New 
Bedford. It is about two miles in length 
by one and a half in width, and its streets 
cross each other at right angles. As we 
view it from the harbor, it rises regularly 
and gracefully upon the ascending ground, 
showing all its leading features to excel- 
lent advantage. Its rapid growth was 
due to the whale fishery, and the forms 
of business connected with that pursuit, 
a business that sprung up before the Re- 
volutionary war, and was checked only for 
a time by that great patriot struggle. 
During that war this port was a rendez- 
vous for American privateers. In order 
to destroy this fleet that preyed on Eng- 



NEW BEDFORD ILLUSTRATED. 



lish commerce, the British, on the 5th 
of September, 1778, landed four thou- 
sand troops, under General Gray, upon 
Clark's Neck, on the western shore of 
the Acushnet, at its mouth. This force 
marched upon the town and burnt 
houses, stores, goods, provisions, ship- 
ping and wharves to the value of ^323,- 
266. Their report said " 70 sail de- 
stroyed, of which 8 were large ships 
laden, and 4 privateers." 

When the war waves subsided the 
city again built her daring keels, and 
sent them out upon the seas. In 1838 
the town owned 170 vessels in the 
whale fishery, manned by 4,000 sailors, 
and had 17 candle and oil factories. 
Into this port, in 1837, were brought 
75,675 barrels of sperm and 85,668 bar- 
rels of right whale oil. In 1845 New 
Bedford was the third port in this 
country for the tonnage of vessels. 
In 1850 she had 450 vessels in the 
whale fishery. But now the business 
had begun to decline, and did not re- 
vive till after the Rebellion. But never 
have the old times of shouting crews 
and happy ship-owners returned, yet 
in 187 1 the products of this fishery 
brought into this port were valued at 
more than $1,500,000. At present (1879) 
New Bedford is credited with 133 whal- 
ers, large and small. Her captains and 
seamen are known in nearly all the 
ports of the world. 

It will be remembered that soon after 
the opening of the Rebellion many of 
the old whale ships were bought by our 
Government and freighted with stone 
and sunk as obstructions in southern 
harbors. It happened to the writer, 
amid fiery war scenes, to look upon 
some of these old hulks as they lay 
in South Carolina channels. 

In looking at these old ships in the 




22 



NE W BEDFORD ILL USTRA TED. 



channels of secession ports, we were 
reminded of the active part taken by the 
people of New Bedford in the anti-slavery 
movements of early years, when to 
denounce the system of slave holding as 
the "sum of all villanies " was to lose 
political caste at least. It was believed 
that the New Bedford Quakers had large 
knowledge of, and took stock in the 
underground railroad from Dixie's Land 
to Canada. Probably no one to-day 
blushes for the record, since 

"John Brown's soul goes marching on." 

The first ship to double Cape Horn for 
oil in the Pacific, was the Falkland, from 
Dunkirk, Capt. Obed Paddock, of Nan- 
tucket. She sailed in November, 1790. 
In a week she was followed by the Har- 
mony, Capt. David Starbuck, from the 
same port. Both ships returned in 1792. 

In 1791, the Beaver from Nantucket, 
and Rebecca from New Bedford, were 
the first American ships to double the 
Horn for the leviathans and bring their 
cargoes to these shores. The Beaver, 
with the Dartmouth previously mentioned, 
was involved in the old tea party of Bos- 
ton, having brought over from London the 
detested lu.Kury, and lost the article with- 
out forms of law. 

Some poet of " Punch " portrayed the 
perils of whaling in lines, from which we 
copy a couple of stanzas : — 

" In the ship Ann Alexander. 

Cruising in pursuit of whales. 
Bold John S. Deblois commander, 

With a crew so gallant, sails 
In the South Pacific ocean, 

Beaching to the off-shore ground. 
'Mong the waves in wild commotion. 

Several monstrous whales they found." 



" In an instant— Heaven defend us; 

Lo, the whale had, near the keel 
Struck, with such a force tremendous. 

That it made the vessel reel ; 
And her bottom knocked a hole in, 

Into which the water poured. 
And the sea so fierce did roll in 

That the liillows rushed and roared." 



After all her changes of fortune in 
maritime affairs, in war and in peace. 
New Bedford has had a proud develop- 
ment, and is, according to her population 
— in round numbers more than 25,000 — 
one of the richest as she is one of the 
most beautiful cities in our country. She 
has entered largely and successfully into 
manufacturing enterprises, and counts her 
heavy corporations whose fame has gone 
widely over our country and indeed over 
the commercial world. Among these are 
the Wamsutta Mills, the oldest, at the 
north end of the city, employing 2,00a 
hands, with a monthly pay roll of $50,000 ; 
the Morse Twist Drill Works on Bedford 
street ; the Copper Works ; the Iron 
Mills on South Water and Coffin streets ;. 
the Flour Mills ; the Glass Works in the 
south part of the city ; the Potomska 
Cotton Mills, also conspicuous in the 
south portion of the city, running 175,000 
spindles, the New Bedford Coal Com- 
pany with its prodigious pockets for sup- 
plying inland Massachusetts ; and the 
large Cordage Manufactory on Court 
and Emerson streets. 

Business appears particularly brisk 
near the end of the bridge. By the way 
the first bridge was constructed we infer 
in 1798, but was washed away in 1807. 
Reconstructed, it was again destroyed by 
the September gale of 1815 that largely 
damaged the water front of the whole 
city and all the shores of the river. The 
present bridge was built in 1819. It has 
been a toll-bridge till within a few years. 
It is now crossed by horse cars. 

The city has a just pride in its superior 
High School, in a fine building on Middle 
and Summer streets, erected at a cost of 
$135,000. It has also its excellent Gram- 
mar schools, Primary schools, and its 
worthy private schools of various grades 
and for special objects. 



NEW BEDFORD ILLUSTRATED. 




t of the Whale Fishery. 



The chief of the city's public houses 
and hotels is the Parker House on Pur- 
chase, between Middle and Elm streets. 
The Bancroft House on Union street, 
has an excellent character ; so has the 
Mansion House. 

The Custom House is found on Wil- 
liam and North Second streets. 

Should you be so fortunate as to spend 
a Sabbath in this orderly and solid city, 
you may have a large choice in attending 
the services of worship, for you will find 
various Congregational churches, the 
North Congregational, on Elm and Pur- 
chase streets, built of granite in 1836, at 
a cost, with land, of more than $33,000, 
and another on School street ; various 
Baptist churches, one on William and 
North Sixth, another on Middle, and yet 
another on County and Merrimac streets ; 
various Christian churches, one on Pur- 



chase and Middle; another on Spruce 
and Smith streets ; the Unitarian, called 
First Congregational, on Union and 
Eighth streets, of granite, finished in 
183S, at a cost, with land, of $40,000; the 
Universalist, on William street; the St. 
Lawrence (Catholic) of granite on Hill- 
man and County streets ; Grace church, 
on Union above Sixth street ; St. James 
Episcopal, a new and beautiful edifice on 
Linden and County streets ; the Trini- 
tarian, on Fourth and School streets; 
the Catholic on Church and School ; the 
Friends' Meetings, one on Spring and 
one on Fifth street ; and various Metho- 
dist churches, one on Church and Fourth, 
one on Elm and County, one on Pleasant 
and Sycamore streets. 

The French Catholic Church may be 
found on Acushnet heights — the highest 
part of the city — on Ashland street. 



24 



NEW BEDFORD ILLUSTRATED. 



If you at any time wish to hear the 
musical Portuguese tongue as used in 
religious service, you will be gratified by 
attending the Portuguese Catholic Church 
— St. John's — on Wing street, corner of 
Fifth. You will find an excellent house 
and will listen to a sweet organ, and, if 
you understand the tongue, will be inter- 
ested in the Portuguese priest. The 
church is Surmounted by a Maltese cross. 
This class of citizens was introduced into 
the city in the palmy days of the whale 
fishing. A portion of the town was once 
called Fayal. 

Inquirers after the past will visit with 
peculiar interest Pine Grove Cemetery 
near Acushnet village ; Oak Grove Cem- 
etery in the west part of the city ; Rural 
Cemetery, and the Friends' burying- 
ground in the south part of the town. 
Some of the tombs, monuments and 
inscriptions are especially historic. 

Acushnet Heights, in the northwest 
part of the city, holds many superb resi- 
dences, commanding magnificent views 
of country, river, bay and islands. 

On County street, beautifully shaded 
with ancient elms, as on Cottage and 
Si.vth streets, are peculiarly attractive 
mansions and grounds. 

The City Hall, on William and North 
Sixth streets, of native unhewn granite, 
cost $60,000. Substantial, too, are the 
Court House and House of Correction, 
of brick, and the granite jail, all on Court 
street. 

The Free Library Building on William 
street, completed in ICS57, cost $45,000, 
and contains now 38,000 volumes, the 
first free public library established in 
Massachusetts and in the world, and has 
connected with it a free public reading- 
room. Within this elegant building on 
a large marble tablet we read this noble 
testimony : — 



" This tablet commemorates the en- 
lightened liberality of Sylvia Ann How- 
land, who bestowed upon the city of New 
Bedford the sum of two hundred thou- 
sand dollars ; one hundred thousand to 
aid in supplying the city with pure water ; 
and one hundred thousand as a fund for 
the promotion of liberal education by the 
enlargement of the Free Public Libyary, 
and by extending to the children and 
youth of the city the means of a wider 
and more generous culture." 
She died in 1865. 

Every stranger will pay a visit to the 
large and tastefully arranged City Com- 
mon in the north part of the town. In 
the middle of the common rises majesti- 
cally the beautifully designed granite 
soldiers' and sailors' monument, with 
. suitable inscriptions and bronze orna- 
ments and emblems. Standing on the 
east side and looking up you will tearfully 
read : — 

" Erected by the city of New Bedford 
as a Tribute of Gratitude to her Sons who 
fell defending their Country in its strug- 
gle with Slavery and Treason." 

The memorial cost $13,000, and was 
dedicated July 4, 1866. 

The city is supplied with water from 
Acushnet river by proper machinery seen 
on Acushnet heights. 

Money is here handled by four national 
and two savings banks. 

The city supports its four worthy jour- 
nals. The Mercury, The Standard, The 
Weekly Shipping List, and The Signal. 

A noble record belongs to the Friends' 
Academy on Morgan street, founded in 
1812. 

The solidity and thorough furnishing 
of the school-houses in New Bedford will 
strongly impress the visitor. The char- 



NEW BEDFORD ILLUSTRATED. 




The High S( 

acter ot the instruction well corresponds 
with the buildings. 

The New Bedford Lyceum was founded 
in 1828; and the Orphans' House was 
incorporated in r842. 

You observe that the bridge connect- 
ing New Bedford with Fairhaven crosses 
two islands withal, Pope's Island and 
Fish Island ; these islands are business 
centres as well. Here you notice a small 
marine railway, the larger one being at 
the City Wharf. In front of Fairhaven 



is Crow Island ; opposite the Potomska 
mills is Palmer's Island, holding its 
needed harbor light. 

The New Bedford, Vineyard and Nan- 
tucket Steamboat Company was incor- 
porated in 1854 and uses a capital of $70,- 
000, an indication of the relation of the 
city to the islands. 

Delightful drives may be had in and 
around the city, if only the visitor is 
favored, as we were, with the company 
and kindness of a sea-captain in his own 



26 



NEW BEDFORD ILLUSTRATED. 



fine carriage. You will do well to pass 
up Pearl street by the Wamsutta mills, to 
Acushnet avenue and to Purchase street 
and down it through the heart of the city, 
and then take the royal way, County 
street, and leisurely survey both public 
and private edifices. But for seeming 
to be invidious, we might speak of par- 
ticular mansions, the old Parker house, 
Wm. J. Rotch estate, Rowland house, 
Hathaway house, and others too numer- 
ous to allow of description. Then there 
are enchanting drives to the north, to the 
west and to the south of the city. Nor 
will one forget to pass along Front street, 
the wharves, and look upon the ships 
and the smaller crafts that speak of the 
city's wealth and enterprise. Attention 
will be attracted by the Merchants' Bank 
building, Robeson building, Cummings' 
block and other noble business edifices. 
Ah ! no one can know New Bedford 
outside and inside without visiting the 
Tars' Retreat or Seamen's Senate at Kel- 
ley's on Union street and being introduced 
to the Chronometer Club when in full 
session. There you will get your latitude 
and longitude made up from lunar obser- 
vations and dead reckonings that are 
sure to put you on your prosperous 
voyage. Every member of this Club, in 
tongue and memory, moves on gimbals, 
and so keeps a level head. The other 
similar associations in the city, the Wam- 
sutta Club and the Angelic Club are 
aftergrowths and humble imitators of 
the older body of famous vikings. Every 
member of the Chronometer Club we 
judge has harpooned the North Pole, and 
can try oil out of Arctic fogs and ice 
floes. Stories ? You can have volumes 
of them from that of the man who was 
thinking of joining Parson Holmes' 
church (hie !) to the stout armed fellow 



who threw his single iron through three 
black fish and strung them on his warp. 
Well, you must go in and listen for your- 
self, and your chronometer will be put in 
order. 

One story is worthy of type : A 
brave old sea-king, discoursing to a knot 
of admiring listeners, anxious to empha- 
size the degree of cold experienced in 
the Arctic ocean, asserted that "the air 
was so full of frost that the human voice 
could not penetrate it." A listener, of a 
skeptical turn of mind, threw in the 
question, " Pray, captain, how then 
could you converse with one another ?" 
Quick as the thrust of a harpoon came 
the answer, " Why, when we opened our 
mouths, our words froze right on the air, 
so that you could read them as you would 
a telegram." This beats the phonograph. 

These virtues have Acushnet sailoi-s, 
Their stories, like themselves, are iriia(<is. 

But best of all — and that's the rubber — 
They even cut from icebergs blubber ; 

But, lest you should the blubber spoil, 
Engage them to try-out the oil. 

But our steamer is waiting to bear us 
away from the fair and flourishing city. 
We shall run through the Acushnet and 
Buzzard's Bay, past the Elizabeth Isles 
to Martha's Vineyard, and then on to 
Nantucket. Matters of history and 
special interest will be considered as we 
proceed. The tour to these picturesque 
and popular islands, now annually visited 
by tens of thousands for religious and 
social purposes, cannot be without pleas- 
ure and profit. But we will move lei- 
surely and thoughtfully that we may real- 
ize the beauty of the scenes. The 
waters over which we pass and the islands 
upon which we are to look are vitally 
connected with New Bedford's history. 



NEW BEDFORD ILLUSTRATED. 



Sii^zaH'i Say. 



Fortunately we take passage on the 
staunch and well-appointed steamer 
Monohansett, a historical boat. During 
the Rebellion, while she was yet new, she 
was chartered by our Government as a 
transport and went into the Department of 
the South, under Generals Hunter and Gill- 
more, and took part in memorable scenes. 
For a time she was Gillmore's headquar- 
ters boat and came north with him to 
"Virginia, where, on the James and Poto- 
mac, General Grant chose her as his 
dispatch-boat, and at times as his head- 
quarters. And now in her state-room on 
deck you may see the sofa, chairs, bed 
and wash-stand used by Grant ; also you 
may see a table once on the River Queen, 
used by President Lincoln when he met 
the peace commissioners of the Confed- 
eracy in Hampton Roads. The present 
commander, Capt. C. C. Smith, was then 
first officer of the boat. 

As we pass out of the harbor we lea\ e 
old Fort Phenix on our left, where oc 
curred memorable events during the Rev- 
olution, scenes worthy of enduring record. 
Twenty-five guns look out from the ram- 
parts. Just as we reach the bay we pass 
Clark's Point, on our right, where stands 
the new fort begun during the Rebellion, 
planned after Fort Sumter, but perhaps 
from the fate of Sumter under shot and 
shell, has been left unfinished ; the light- 
keeper on the parapet appearing to be 
the only garrison. However, New Bed- 
ford is in no danger of being captured, 
she can defend herself. 

We are again fortunate in our passage 
across this bay in seeing the elegant 
yacht of Colonel Forbes making one of 
her finest passages, having a good' breeze 
and being in best of trim, with a helms- 
man—perhaps the colonel himself — 



who knows how to handle the wheel. 
The Azalia is a beauty, and how grace- 
fully, bravely and swiftly she glides like 
a thing of life over the shining waters, 
with as the sailors say, " a white bone in 
her mouth." She is making ten or 
twelve knots. In fact she holds her way 
well with the steamer, but is not quite 
equal to us. The passion for yachting 
finds its justification in the poetry of 
motion and the inspiration of speed. 

Buzzard's Bay — a name borrowed they 
say from the fish-hawk — is really a beau- 
tiful and poetical sheet of water, embraced 




by romantic shores and islands, full of 
natural charms and story. On the west- 
ern shore we can see Nonquit, a choice 
summer resort of the New Bedford peo- 
ple ; and a little further on Round Hill 



28 



NEW BEDFORD ILLUSTRATED. 



and Dumpling Light; and yet farther [ 
away the line of the beautiful Elizabeth 
Isles. Toward the east in the distance ] 
we look upon Mattapoisett the hoary head j 
of Great Hill, and, further south. West 
Falmouth, Quamquissett Harbor and 
Wood's Hole, another terminus of land \ 
travel towards the islands. By the way, 
the cuts or channels in this region be- 



tween the islands and points of land are 
called Holes, and we shall run through 
the cut called Wood's Hole, between the 
main and the easternmost of the Elizabeth 
Isles. Through this short, angular but 
safe strait the tides often run with great 
speed, which only makes the passage the 
more animated. But let us glance at the 
chain of islands on our right. 



Sihabdh cJskS. 



These thirteen picturesque islands, 
lying between Buzzard's Bay and the 
Vineyard Sound, besides their natural 
beauty have a particular claim upon our 
attenlion. Whatever may be said of the 
voyages of the Northmen in the eleventh 
century we are not sure that the feet of 
any Europeans trod these shores before 
the seventeenth century. What we de- 
finitely know is that in May, 1602, 
eighteen years before the landing of the 
Pilgrims at Plymouth, Bartholomew Gos- 
nold, an intrepid English 'mariner from 
Falmouth, in the bark Concord, reached 
these islands, which he named in honor 
of Queen Elizabeth, who died that year, 
and here made a temporary stay on the 
westernmost island, where the remains — 
the cellar of the house he built — are 
still shown to us. This group of islands, 
in 1864 was incorporated into a munici- 
pality appropriately named Gosnold. 
One of these, Penikese, was chosen by 
the lamented Agassiz as the seat of his 
school of natural history, and will so be 
remembered. The largest, Naushon, was 
possessed, with all the islands around, by 
the Mayhews from 164 c to 1682, when it 
passed to the Winthrops, and then to the 
Bowdoins, then to Wni. W. Swain, and is 
now the property of John M. Forbes, and 
is nigh as beautiful as a paradise, especi- 
ally in summer. Here the owner in- 
dulges his friends even in the luxury of a 



deer hunt. The names of the other 
chief islands are, beginning at the east, 
Nonamesset with its Mount Sod, Unca- 
tena, Weepeckets, Pasque, Nashawena, 
Gull, and Cuttyhunk, the latter well- 
known to all who steer through Buzzard's 
Bay or the Vineyard Sound. We are 
glad that old Indian names are so far re- 
tained. By the way the sunken rocks 
found between Cuttyhunk and Gay Head 
on Martha's Vineyard are accounted for 
in Indian legend. The giant Maushope, 
who lived in the Devil's Den at Gay 
Head, undertook to build here a cause- 
way, and had thrown in these rocks and 
a shoe-full of earth from the Den when 
an impious crab bit his toe, which so 
exasperated him that he abandoned his 
scheme. In wrath he retired to his Den. 
Gosnold seems to have landed on Cut- 
tyhunk, May 28, 1602, and selected his 
"abode and plantation" on a "rocky 
islet " in a lake of fresh water, " almost 
three miles in compass," on the north- 
I west side of the island. Says the record, 
" we built our house and covered it with 
sedge ; " the labor occupied " three weeks 
or more." From dissatisfactions, how- 
ever, Gosnold and his whole company 
sailed for England, June 18, 1602. They 
carried with them sassafras, cedar, furs, 
skins and other valuables. Sassafras 
root, for its supposed medicinal qualities, 
was then in great demand in England, 



NEW BEDFORD ILLUSTRATED. 



selling at three shillings per 
pound. Eminent men in 1797, 
others in 1 8 1 7 , and still others 
in T848 visited and recognized 
the " first spot in New Eng- 
land occupied by Europeans, 
and the only one inhabited by 
them in the glorious days of 
Queen Bess." The munici- 
pal meetings of Gosnold are 
held on Cuttyhunk. 

In regard to Naushon 
Island, its charming grounds, 
forest and lawn, and the red 
tiled mansions of theForbeses 
— father and son — and the 
opportunities here affordedfor 
rest or hunting, we may add 
that here President Grant in 
1S74 made a visit and proved 
his horsemanship to the great 
admiration of all. On the southern 
shore of the island are Tarpaulin Cove 
and Kettle Cove. 

These coves and shores are all historic. 
Some of the old inhabitants here might 
give you thrilling stories of the old days 
of war. 

Of a British report of captures here 
under date of " Sept. 10, 1778," we read : 
" In the Vineyard Sound ; 2 sloops and a 
schooner, i sloop burnt ; " " In Old Town 
(Edgartown) harbor, i brig of 150 tons 
and I schooner of 70 tons burnt by Scor- 
pion, and 22 whale boats taken or de- 
stroyed;" "At Holmes' Hole, 4 vessels 
with several boats taken or destroyed ; " 
" Arms taken at Martha's Vineyard ; 388 
stand, with bayonets, pouches, some 
powder and a quantity of lead, also 300 
oxen and 10,000 sheep." The excite- 
ment on the island and the condition of 
affairs may be inferred from this report. 
British soldiers for a time were quartered 
at Tarpaulin Cove on Naushon ; Samuel 




New Bedford. 



Robinson in his " Recollections " says, 
"about 200 soldiers; they were there 
twelve or fourteen months ; they used to 
barrack in the old house which stood 
where the present Tarpaulin Cove house 
now stands ; they built a fort on the east 
side of the harbor." 

For the benefit of the medical frater- 
nity we here copy an entry from the jour- 
nal of John Winthrop (son of Wait), kept 
in 1702 : 

"Ye Indians on ye Elizabeth Island 
cures ye bloody flux with ye iner bark of 
ye root of ye tauUest barberry bush 
steeped in water." 

We are tempted to give another extract : 

"Ye natives of ye Elizabeth Island say 
yt ye Devell was making a stone bridge 
over from ye main to Nanamesset Island 
and while he was rowling ye stones and 
placing of ym under water, a crab catched 
him by ye fingers, with wh. he snatched 
up his hand and fiung it towards Nan- 
tucket, and ye crabs breed there ever 



30 



NEW BEDFORD ILLUSTRATED. 



since." By the way, the " Devell " never 
finishes his bridges. 

Moral: Beware how you roll stones 
and begin bridges under his engineering. 

This " Devell " came from the main- 
land. His three notable steps were, first 
at Seaconnet, R. I. ; second, Cuttyhunk ; 
third. Gay Head. He also once stepped 
-upon Chappequiddick where he left his 
foot-prints on a flat rock still shown to 
visitors. Sub rosa : We think his foot- 
prints are in other places also. 

Within Naushon are Mary's Lake in 
the northerly part, and yet another lake 
in the southwesterly part, embracing 
fifty-five acres. The lake in Cuttyhunk 
is fitly named Gosnold Lake. Penikese 
was given, together with ^50,000, by 



John Anderson, of New York, for the 
benefit of Prof. Agassiz's school. The 
death of the great teacher changed the 
order of the school. The better to re- 
member the Elizabeth Isles some one 
has ingeniously put the principal names 
into measured lines : — 

" Cuttyhunk and Penikese, 
Nashawena, Pasquenese, 
Great Naushon, Nonaraesset, 
Uncateiia and Wepeket." 
Now we pass from these islands 
through the pleasant strait of Wood's 
Hole into yet more historic waters. 
Little Wood's Hole on our left is the 
Government Buoy Station. As we pass, 
however, let us recall a few things re- 
specting those, now gone forever, who 
were once the lords of all these shores. 



if/ie JllbalHimi. 



Not without historical instruction do 
we recall the strange story of the abo- 
rigines. Prior to the arrival of whites the 
Indians in all these islands numbered 
about 3,000. Those on Nantucket 
counted near 1,500, in two tribes, the 
eastern supposed to have had their origin 
near Cape Cod, and the western to have 
emigrated from Martha's Vineyard. A 
war occurred between these tribes in 
1630. The Martha's Vineyard tribe, 
originally from the main, seems also to 
have been of the Wampanoag family as 
Massasoit, and afterwards King Philip, 
claimed their obedience. They lived by 
fishing and hunting and feeding on the 
wild fruits, planting and raising but very 
little. The shores abounded in fin and 
shell fish, and the islands, says Gosnold, 
were covered with forests, fruit-bearing 
shrubs and vines ; from the abundance 
of the latter he chose the name applied 
lo Martha's Vineyard. The Indians pro- 



per held only a little personal property, 
dress and utensils ; the sachems held the 
right of the soil and the power of peace 
and war. 

Curious enough are some of the In- 
dian legends. One of their tutelar di- 
vinities was Maushope, a monster giant 
who could wade the Sounds. His chief 
residence was in what is now known as 
the Devil's Den, in Gay Head, where he 
broiled whales on fires made of the larg- 
est trees, which he pulled up by the roots, 
and distributed the cooked flesh among 
the natives. The bones of the whales 
and the coals of the fires are still pointed 
out in the wonderful geological phenom- 
ena of Gay Head, especially the lignites. 
The first Indian that reached Kapawack 
(Martha's Vineyard) was, with his dog, 
borne on a cake of ice, and he found 
Maushope in his den with a wife and five 
children. Afterwards in a passion simi- 
lar to that experienced in building his 



NEW BEDFORD ILLUSTRATED. 



31 



causeway to Cuttyhunk, Maushope sep- 
arated NoMan's-Land from Gay Head, 
metamorphosed his children into fishes, 
threw his wife over on Seaconnet Point, 
near Newport, where she still remains a 
misshapen rock, and left his den never 
to return. Some report that they have 
smelt or traced volcanic flames in the 
Den, and so at last has sprung up the 
name Devil's Den, which is a profana- 
tion of Indian lore. 

Maushope played a part in the origin 
of Nantucket. As a monster bird was 
wont to visit Cape Cod and carry away 
papooses in his talons, Maushope waded> 
the Sound and discovered Nantucket, 
and the bones of the children in a heap 
under a large tree. Wishing to smoke, 
but finding no tobacco on the island, he 
filled his pipe with poke weed, from 
which originated the Nantucket fogs, of 
■which the natives afterwards said, " there 
comes old Masuhope's smoke." Still 
another legend is that Nantucket was 
made entire by Maushope when on a cer- 
tain time having filled his pipe with all 
the tobacco on Martha's Vine- 
yard he emptied the ashes 
after his big smoke on the 
great shoal. At any rate 
the name of Maushope bids 
fair to. always have a place in 
the history of all these fair 
islands ; and none will doubt 
that he was a great smoker, 
or that others have sinoked 
since his day. Of the stories 
we have now told we need 
only say, "put them in your 
pipe and smoke them." You 
may find that Maushope 
was in some way related to 
the immortal Monthaup (eu- 
phonized into Mount Hope) 
of Bristol, Rhode Island. 



The Indians had a curious method of 
punishing obstinate boys and servants. 
Throwing the culprit on his back, hold- 
ing his arms to the ground with their 
knees, pulling back his head by his hair, 
they spirted into his nostrils from their 
mouths a decoction of bayberry-root bark, 
repeating the process until the criminal 
was nigh strangled and yielded his stub- 
born will. They called the method 
medom-humar, signifying great punish- 
ment. Perhaps the modern Indian doc- 
tors in our cities might here catch a hint 
of the many virtues of roots. We sub- 
mit the methfij^ of correction to the con- 
sideration of all policemen and the 
sergeant-at-arms in Congress to meet 
occasions when men's angry passions 
rise. We are disposed to think that the 
old New England recipe of hickory 
twigs unsteeped might still be used with 
advantage in many cases. 

Enough at present of the aborigines. 
But a word should be said of the first 
whites that occupied these shores. 




The Unitarian Church, New Bedford. 



NEW BEDFORD ILLUSTRATED. 



<SiUt Seit/eM. 



In October, 1641, Thomas Mayhew, 
Gent., of Watertown, Mass., and his son 
Thomas, purchased of Sir Ferdinando 
Gorges and the Earl of Stirling, through 
their agents, Nantucket and its adjoining 
islands; and on the 23d of the same 
month obtained Martha's Vineyard and 
the Elizabeth Isles; and in 1642 began a 
settlement at Edgartown, then called 
Great Harbor, a name which it retained 
till 1671. In 1664 Charles II by charter 
gave to his brother James, Duke of York, 
all these islands lying between Cape Cod 
and Narragansett Bay, and so they muni- 
cipally became a part of New York, until 
by charter of William and Mary in 1692, 
they, with Plymouth Colony, became a 
portion of the Province of Massachusetts 
Bay. The New York records spell 
Martha's Vineyard Martin's Vineyard. 
These islands were also obtained by 
equitable purchase of the native sachems, 
who, by Indian law, had the power to dis- 
pose of lands. 

Certain records tell of settlers on 
Martha's Vineyard preceding the May- 
hews ; the names given are Pease,Vincent, 
Norton and Tripp, names since very 
worthily associated with the town's his- 
tory. It is said that they landed in the 
autumn from a ship on her way to Vir- 
ginia and lived for the winter on supplies 
obtained of the natives and were after- 
wards joined by the Mayhews, when the 
lands around them were laid out in forty- 
two shares. 

The Indian name of Martha's Vine- 
yard was Kapawack. The name of the 
island at the east of Edgartown is Chap- 
pequiddick. No-Man's-Land, lying ofif 
to the south and west, was found by Gos- 
nold "a disinhabited island." At pres- 
ent it is an important station for pilots 



who are looking for vessels homeward 
bound. 

Thomas Mayhew, Jr., became the cele- 
brated missionary. Through his noble 
and unwearied ministrations the gos- 
pel was presented to the natives of 
Martha's Vineyard and finally to those of 
Nantucket, and wonderful results fol- 
lowed. He began his labors as soon as 
he could command the Indian tongue, 
preceding the efforts and laying the 
foundation for the plans and successes 
of the famous John Eliot, of Newtown. 
He commenced his missionary work in 
1643, ^"d his school was opened as early 
as 165 1. His first convert on Martha's 
Vineyard was Hiacoomes, a man about 
thirty years of age, who finally became a 
teacher and had a son Joel, who entered 
Harvard College, but lost his life by ac- 
cident just before graduation. Another 
convert from Edgartown, Caleb Chees- 
chaumuck, took his diploma in 1665, but 
shortly died of consumption. Mittark, 
sachem of Gay Head was the first Indian 
minister among the natives in that local- 
ity. Though Hiacoomes was at first con- 
temned by his countrymen, yet when a 
great epidemic swept over the island in 
1645, and he and his family were spared, 
the people turned and desired that he 
would instruct them. The sachem, in his 
own and his people's name requested Mr. 
Mayhew to teach them the principles of 
Christianity, and great success followed. 
Eight Indian priests and two hundred 
and eighty adults embraced the gospel. 
Mr. Mayhew's method was to catechise 
the children, pray, preach, sing psalms, 
and then answer questions. Thus he 
continued till 1657 when he sailed for a 
visit to England, taking with him one or 
two of the converts ; but the ship, after 



NEW BEDFORD ILLUSTRATED. 



■departure, was never heard from. The 
good man's death was deeply deplored 
by the islanders. A granite tablet should 
be set up to his honor. 

Mr. Mayhew's father, who had as- 
sisted his son in the mission, e.xerted 
such influence as to establish among the 
converts a civil government. The 
princes and nobles " submitted to the 
King of England, reserving, as subor- 
dinate princes, the privilege of govern- 
ing their people according to the laws of 
God and the King." In 1666 there was 
a church on Nantucket under the care 
of John Gibbs, and one on Martha's 
Vineyard under the care of Hiacoomes. 

In 1684 Mr. Eliot states that the Indi- 
ans had two places of worship on Mar- 
tha's Vineyard, and si.x on Nantucket. 
In 1695 Dr. Cotton says, " there were 
three churches and five constant assem- 
blies in Nantucket," and that " in Mas- 
sachusetts alone there were about thirt\- 
Indian congregations and more than 
three thousand converts." 

But times and manners changed, and 
the aborigines slowly but steadily de- 
creased as they came into the excite- 
ment and perils of civilized life. 

In 1690, in the French war, " a flee! 
of seven sail of French privateers made 
descent upon the coast, captured Nan- 
tucket, Martha's Vineyard and Block 
Island, where they committed horrible 
excesses." 

We are about to enter the harbor of 
Vineyard Haven. The point we are 
rounding on our right, the northern ex- 
tremity of the island, is West Chop, 
holding the Holmes Hole Light. The 
point opposite, on our left, at the east, is 
East Chop, also holding an important 
Light. But a word of the island before 
we reach the landing. Do you wish to 
have a general idea of the shape of the 





34 



NEW BEDFORD ILLUSTRATED. 



island ? Pardon the rude illustration 
for the sake of the idea. The figure we 
choose is suggested by the excellent, 
indeed, perfect map executed by the 
Coast Survey. Well, imagine a huge 
bullock, such as Maushope might have 
seen, shorn of the extremities of his 
limbs and thrown down on his side upon 
the sea, his spine at the south running 
due east and west, his head to the west 
and turned back a little to the south ; 
the nose becomes Gay Head, the horn- 
hump becomes Squipnocket Point, the 



separated horns having become No-Man's- 
Land, the tail having become Chappa- 
quiddick Island, while the loins and ab- 
dominal portions have become trans- 
formed into camp grounds and the hills 
that look out upon the Vineyard Sound. 
Now, if you hold to the rude figure, it 
will help you in traveling over the 
island, which measures twenty miles in 
length with an average width of five and 
a half miles. But the very waters around 
us are suggestive of events. 



Vim^ald Sound. 



The innumerable stories, old and new, 
of this strait, cut by the keels of all 
known nations within the last three cen- 
turies, we must leave to be told by the 
tars and the records of old captains. 
By the way, we have no faith in the 
traditions cherished by credulous marvel- 
lovers, of the voyages of the Vikings 
of the tenth century, as having any 
true connection with the islands we 
are about to visit. Of course we ignore 
the story that some one, owning all 
these islands, had three daughters, Eliza- 
beth, Martha and Nancy, and having 
given portions to Elizabeth and Martha 
had the farthest seeward left and Nan 
took it, and so originated the name Nan- 
tucket. We do believe, however, that 
these waters have been plowed by strange 
sails under doubtful flags. Here have 
tacked and filled the keels of corsairs. 
Into these holes and harbors skulked 
the infamous William (not Robert) Kidd. 
It is said by authority, that now through 
this Sound, more than 60,000 vessels pass 



annually in the day-time alone. From 
the deck of our steamer we now count 
forty-five sails. 

One steamer now on the Nantucket 
route is worthy of the traveler's notice 
since she is historic. We speak of the 
River Queen. She was built before the 
Rebellion, and during that struggle was 
used as President Lincoln's dispatch- 
boat on the Potomac. On board of her 
in Hampton Roads, Feb. 3, 1865, met 
that remarkable company known as the 
Peace Commissioners — a company and 
an event not soon to be forgotten. The 
steamer still preserves, for obvious rea- 
sons, the same furniture, sofas and chairs 
on which the political and war dignitaries 
held their deliberations. There sat Presi- 
dent Lincoln and Gov. Seward of the 
Union, and A. H. Stephens, J. A. Camp- 
bell and R. M. T. Hunter of the Con- 
federacy. President Lincoln was firm. 
General Grant soon brought peace by 
his heroic grip on Richmond. 



II. 



{trt^il*0 ptttfirtf^. 



W)iate\ [■!■ lights the age may boast, 
Pou red on the tide that flows, 

Uudimmed along the Vineyard's eoast 
The name o( Mayhew glows. 



MIlM^rflS largest island on the. coast 
v/jkIIK of New England, and justly mem- 
orable for what has occurred on 
it, we shall find divided into four 
townships, which, in chronologi- 
cal order, are Edgartown, Tisbury, Chil- 
mark, and Gay Head. These, with Gos- 
nold (the thirteen Elizabeth Isles), con- 
stitute Duke's County, so named from the 
Duke of York. 

Following the tide of travel, as we now 
must, we shall land at Vineyard Haven, 
in the township o£ Tisbury, and thence 
pass to the great camp-grounds in the 
township of Edgartown, and afterwards 
visit the village of Edgartown and the 
other townships, hamlets, and charming 
localities of the island. 

yimiiQtd Jimm. 

This charming old seaport is snugly 
situated on the southwestern shore of the 
famed harbor of the same name. Both 
haibor and village were formerly famil- 
iarly known to sailors as Holmes' Hole, 
and in this harbor untold keels have cast 
anchor, waiting for favoring winds and 
tides. Vineyard Haven is the principal 
village in the township of Tisbury. Its 



thousand or more of active, hospitable 
people maintain three churches, Baptist, 
Methodist, and Congregational; and also 
a chapel with a free reading-room for 
sailors. The residences of the citizens 
abound in memorials of the seas of the 
world, and in curiosities of remotest 
lands, brought home by bold captains 
and intelligent sailors. Here, too, are 
suitable hotels and boarding-houses for 
all who may seek a quiet, healthful 
retreat. Full in view are Oklahama on 
the west, and Prospect House on the east 
of Lagoon Pond, while just in front, on 
Cedar Neck, stands Hines' cottage 
among the cedars, one of the fairest of 
cottages in the loveliest of places. As 
we glance around we find four hulks and 
wrecks on the harbor shores. Capt. 
Richard G. Luce is one of the noble sea- 
kings of Vineyard Haven. 



When the township of Tisbury was in- 
corporated in 1671, under the govern- 
ment of New York, the proprietors were 
required " to pay, each and every year, 
two barrels of good, merchantable cod- 
fish, to be delivered at Fort James in 



36 



MARTHAS VINEYARD. 



New York." Certainly that was a scaly 
tax for the small measure of protection 
received. 

The township comprises the middle 
portion of Martha's Vineyard, and is 
favored with some fertile and high 
ground, particularly on the north and 
west, with a good supply of pines and 
oaks. 

The village of West Tisbury, of 250 
inhabitants, is inland, reached by roads 
skirted with beautiful oaks — not lofty, as 
the ancient denizens of the island, but 
yet venerable with their heavy beards of 
moss. Authority asserts that " the spe- 
cies is not found in any other part of 
New England." The pendulous mosses 
remind us of what we have seen on a 
larger scale in the live oak forests of 
Georgia and Florida. West Tisbury — 
serene yet happy — has its academy and 
its agricultural hall, and its churches, 
Baptist and Methodist. Here, John May- 
hew, of the old Mayhew family, began 
to preach in 1673, before his ordination. 
His successors in the ministry were 
Josiah Torrey, ordained in 1701 ; Na- 
thaniel Hancock, in 1727; George Da- 
man, in 1760; Asa Morse, in 1784; 
Nymphas Hatch, in 1801. Here, too, is 
a Mayhew cemetery. 

Beyond the harbor of Vineyard Haven, 
and connecting with it on the south, is 
Wickataquay Pond, now better known as 
Lagoon Pond, a beautiful sheet of water 
three miles in length and nearly one in 
width, supposed, with reason, to have 
been anciently a part of the harbor, but 
cut off, possibly, by one of the giant foot- 
prints of old Maushope. Delightful sum- 
mer resorts have been selected on the 
banks of this forest-fringed sea; one is 
fitly named Cedar Neck, as it is mantled 
with cedars; the other has the poetical 
name of Oklahama. 



There are two other conspicuous ponds, 
Chappaquonsett Pond, west of Vineyard 
Haven, in the north part of the island 
(called by the natives Chappaquonsett), 
and reached by a romantic drive through 
pines and oaks ; and Great Tisbury Pond, 
on the south shore, broad near the ocean, 
but diminishing in shape like a fid, and 
so extending far back into the island. 
Indeed, the southern shore has many of 
these marline-spike-shaped ponds run- 
ning up into the land, an indication of 
ancient changes of the shore. Newton's 
Pond, a mile and a half in length, con- 
nects with the ocean. On the northern 
shore is the well known Lambert's Cove. 
Of course Tisbury has its roll of 
worthy men. Here was born Hon. Rufus 
P. Spaulding, who served in Congress 
from 1836 to 1839. Some one ought to 
write a volume of the experiences of its 
captains and sailors. 

It is said that " it takes all sorts to 
make a world." Martha's Vineyard then 
meets the conditions of being a world : 
not an element appears at present to be 
lacking. Beginning with the remnant of 
the aborigines still here, we find nearly 
every people under the whole heavens 
represented at some time during the 
I year; and they are of every conceivable 
rank and condition. 

This brings us to the fact that Tisbury 
has her Nancy Luce, a householder, a 
cook, a seamstress, a spinster, a gar- 
dener, a poet, and a poultry breeder. 
Now, as there could never be a circus 
without a female performer, we advise 
all who go to visit the grandeurs of Gay 
Head to be sure and call at the cottage 
of Nancy Luce, and carry coppers enough 
to purchase a photograph of Nancy and 
her hens. She resides about two miles 
from West Tisbury, on the road to Edgar- 
town. 



MARTHAS VINEYARD. 




On the hill at the west of Vineyard 
Haven you discover the body of a dis- 
mantled windmill, the last of a number 
of such mills that once belonged to the 
island. The edifice recalls an incident 
that occurred in a windmill farther west 
on the coast. There were two millers 



who served by reliefs, so as to turn out 
as much meal and as much toll as pos- 
sible. Bill, who was off duty, returned 
from the village grocery quite inspirited 
for his work. As he relieved 'Nezer, he 
observed that the grist was about half 
ground, and plunging in his measure 



MARTHAS VINEYARD. 



took out a toll. 'Nezer quickly informed 
him that the grist was tolled, according 
to custom, when it was poured into the 
hopper. Bill promptly replied, " Well, 
it's better to be twice right than once 
wrong." Bill's logic is probably not 
confined to windmills. 

If you are among the initiated in Tis- 
bury you can find the Sea-Kings' Circle 
at Vineyard Haven. The sessions open 
by giving the mystic grip, smoking and 
reading the latest Boston and New Bed- 
ford papers. Then, in order, come the 



reports and traditions of the deep ; and 
you may be sure that great depths will 
be sounded. Though the sounding-lines 
are of spun-yarn they never strand and 
are literally interminable. All votes in 
the affirmative are passed by laughing ; 
all in the negative by spitting on the 
stove or floor. The member who tells 
the largest story is president of the next 



' Tis not to common skippers griven, 
To beat the salts of Vineyard Haven. 



£am^'Jlfluiin0. 



By warm and grateful ardor stirred, 
From old oppressive mandates free, 

The voices of tho tribes are heard 
Upon the margin of the sea. 

Martha's Vineyard has been the 
theatre of some of the most notable and 
instructive religious developments in the 
world's history. Theologians, philoso- 
phers, social scientists, and all thinkers, 
may study this island's history with the 
highest profit. Here was developed and 
matured, by the boasted light of nature, 
the singular type of Indian paganism, 
found by Gosnold and Mayhew, that left 
its shadows in the legends of the Devil's 
Den. Here Christianity laid her hand 
upon the poor, blind, declining pagans, 
and lifted them up to love the light of 
Heaven, to know the Son of God, to read 
and write and sing, and unite in the 
bonds of civil life and the sweet fellow- 
ships of christian churches. Here Puri- 
tanism, Quakerism, and the Independ- 
ency of the Roger Williams' school, 
struggled up into complete civil and relig- 
ious liberty. Here have been born and 
nurtured bold spirits who have plowed all 
the seas of the globe. And here, within 
the last forty years, beneath the grand old 
oaks reaching from the Highlands to the 



Bluffs, looking upon the Sounds and the 
ocean, have been instituted the largest 
and most distinguished christian camp- 
meetings of the world. 

To meet a wise and widely expressed 
demand, we have consented to give, in 
as condensed a form as possible, some 
account of the rise, progress and strange 
results of these unique christian meetings, 
and the wonderful social phenomena 
springing from them in the form of a new 
summer city full of beauty, health, pleas- 
ure and praise. 

Christian camp-meetings are an Ameri- 
can product. They originated in 1799, 
in Kentucky, under the revival labors of 
two brothers, named McGee, one a Pres- 
byterian, the other a Methodist ; and 
were overflow meetings held in the woods. 
From their happy results the idea of 
such free open air meetings soon spread 
abroad. God's great unveiled temple re- 
ceived new honor. 

In the sketch that we have been solic- 
ited to present, we shall take the meetings 
and settlements in their order of time : 
(i.) The Wesleyan Grove, the Metho- 
dist meetings; (2.) Oak Bluffs, the set- 
tlement made by the Land and Wharf 



MARTHA'S VINEYARD. 



Company; (3.) The "Vineyard High- 
lands, or Baptist meetings. Passing 
around East Chop to run down the east 
face of the island we meet these famed 
places in the following order : (a) High- 
lands, (b) Wesleyan Grove, (c) Oak 
Bluffs ; and then pass on to Edgartown 
harbor. The camp meetings are reached 
by steamer from the two great wharves 
or piers ; Highland pier and Oak Bluffs 
pier: Wesleyan Grove lying between, 
having no wharf exclusively its own at 
present. The old landing was at East- 
ville, in Vineyard Haven. 

For the sake of distinctness, and to 
assist study, as well as to mark the reg- 
ular and marvelous progress of ideas 
and events, we shall put our record in 
a clear, conspicuous, chronological order. 

And though we give but the merest 
skeleton, these bones when clothed by 
study will reveal the great wonder, how 
a little camp of nine tents of Christian 
worshipers grew in a generation to be 
"The Cottage City of America." 



TyeMeyan §, 



mue-. 

The first meeting was held in August, 
1835, and that has been the sacred 
month since, the particular days being 
determined by the full of the moon. 
Previous camp-meetings had been held 
in other parts of New England, particu- 
larly at Falmouth. The spot here se- 
lected by Jeremiah Pease, of Edgar- 
town, was a half acre in the then venera- 
ble oak grove at the southwest of 
Meadow Pond — now Lake Anthony — 
seven miles from Edgartown and three 
from Vineyard Haven, beautiful for situa- 
tion, looking out upon Nantucket Sound. 
It had no equal for calmness and salu- 
brity on the coast, while its tempera- 
ture as compared with that of the main- 




40 



MARTHA'S VINEYARD. 



land was by several degrees cooler in 
summer and warmer in winter. It would 
seem that Divine Providence had much 
to do with the selection of the spot. 
But we hasten to our condensed record: — 

1835. ^ small rough shed for the 
preacher's stand ; a few rude plank seats ; 
«/w tents furnished with straw and blank- 
ets ; Thomas C. Pieice presided; a 
few preachers present ; held from Mon- 
day to Saturday ; about 1,000 persons 
present ; 65 conversions reported. 

1836. James C. Boutecou presided ; 
ground fixtures improved; reported 20 
converts ; i had been a Papist. 

1837. Twelve tents ; one or two 
boarding-tents; 17 preachers present; 
about 20 conversions. 

1838. Began on Wednesday and held 
over the Sabbath. Bartholomew Othe- 
man presided ; more than 1000 at ser- 
vices ; about 20 converts. 

1839. Seventeen tents ; 26 preachers 
present ; also " Camp-meeting John " 
(Rev. John Allen), and "Reformation 
John Adams." 

1840. Bartholomew Otheman presided ; 
"Great Pasture" leased; name chosen 
"Wesleyan Grove" ; 18 preachers pres- 
ent ; held from Monday to Saturday ; 
about 20 conversions. 

1841. Otheman presided; twenty 
tents, and family and provision tents ; 
800 encamped ; John Hawkins present ; 
about 20 conversions ; numbers lost their 
strength of body. 

1842. Otheman presided ; contribu- 
tions for missions and Providence Con- 
ference Academy ; more than 50 con- 
verts ; J. D. Pease to have charge of 
camp-ground. 

1843. Frederick Upham presided ; 
held beyond appointed time; large num- 
ber of conversions. 

1844. Upham presided ; held over 



Sabbath; 3,000 present; about 1,000 
tenting; 34 conversions; arrangement 
made for " Preachers' Meeting." 

1845. Not held here ; but at Westport, 
Mass.; about 40 ministers present. 

1846. Returned to Wesleyan Grove, 
and ever after held here ; Upham pre- 
sided ; bills for preparing the ground, 
J5174.98; about 15 conversions. 

1847. Upham presided; Providence 
and Sandwich Districts represented ; 
about 30 conversions ; voted disapproba- 
tion of running steamboats on the Sab- 
bath. 

1848. Thomas Ely presided ; between 
two and three thousand present; 64 
tents ; about 40 converts. 

1849. Ely presided ; ordered a well 
dug; voted to secure lease of grounds 
for ten years ; 53 ministers present, and 
some of other denominations ; half-cen- 
tury sermon by " Father Webb " ; 50 con- 
versions. 

1850. Ely presided ; 50 ministers 
present; 87 tents; more interest than 
ever before; 100 conversions; lease of 
grounds secured by S. P. Coffin to 186 1 ; 
annua! rent, $30 ; also additional grounds 
rented, $6 per annum ; new seating 
ordered. 

1851. Ely presided; 100 tents; con- 
gregation 3,500 or 4,000 ; Jeremiah 
Pease, Sen., chorister; 34 converts; 60 
ministers present ; chose a " Standing 
Committee on Finance" ; expenses, $260. 

1852. David Patten presided ; chose 
a " Committee of Order " ; adopted code 
of rules for the camp; 145 tents; 60 
ministers; 140 conversions. 

1853. Patten presided; 160 tents; 80 
converts ; 50 preachers ; 4,000 people ; 
Dea. Moses Grant, of Boston, present ; 
chose committee on singing. 

1854. Pardon T. Kenney presiding ;. 
60 ministers ; also some of other denom- 



MARTHA'S VINEYARD. 




illations ; area of camp circle again en- 
larged ; i8o tents of all kinds, 36 large 
ones, some family tents ; " city in the 
woods"; voted to discountenance hawk- 
ing and peddling. 

1855. About 50 preachers; 200 tents, 
some on a "grand scale"; steamboats 
Metacomet and Eagle's Wing made daily 
trips ; about 5,000 or 6,000 present ; 
Charles H. Titus presided ; tents ordered 
to have names of owners and churches. 

1856. Charles H. Titus presided ; near 



6,000 present on the Sabbath ; tents 
ordered to have lights burning all night ; 
burning fluid forbidden; oil was script- 
ural and not explosive; Committee of 
Arrangements to be of laymen and 
preachers, one layman from each church. 
1857. Held from Aug. 20 to 27 ; 250 
tents of all kinds; 300 camped in the 
grove proper ; 60 ministers ; Rev. Mr. 
Girdwood (Baptist), of New Bedford, 
preached on Sabbath ; " Father Bates " 
preached; Paul Townsend presided; more 



42 



MARTHA'S VINEYARD. 



than 6,000 people; 50 converts, one "a 
young Jew " ; discussed buying the grove ; 
moved to secure an act of incorporation. 

1858. Secured lease of grounds for i 
thirteen years ; some " houses built of 
■wood " ; more tents ; some shelters, part 
wood and part cloth ; Townsend presided ; 
6,000 or 7,000 " within the sound of the 
preacher's voice " ; 12,000 present on the 
Sabbath; Governor Banks, Ex-Governor 
Harris (of R. I.), and M. C.'s and other 
dignitaries present; over 100 Methodist 
ministers, and some others; Thomas 
Brainard, d. d. (Presbyterian), of Phila- 
delphia preached; 20 converts; 320 
tents; "quite a city"; the camp now 
embraced "from twelve to fifteen acres," 
when in 1835 it covered " not more than 
a half acre." 

1859. Small wooden building and a 
head-quarters house ; an avenue forty feet 
wide around the grove circle, now Broad- 
way ; also Fisk avenue begun; Trinity 
Park begun ; new and large tents with 
frames ; had got to be the largest meeting 
of the kind in the world ; Geo. M. Car- 
penter presiding; 12,000 people; above 
400 tents; more than 100 ministers; 30 
professed conversions ; expenses, $1,600. 

i860. Numbers had come beforehand 
as health and pleasure-seekers; bell rung 
at sunrise to call from bed, at 8 o'clock 
for prayer in society tents ; at 10, 2 and 7 
for services at the stand ; at 10 P. M. to 
go into tents for the night; 500 tents; 
earnest efforts to revive the old stand- 
ards of effectiveness; 100 spoke at the 
love feast ; in the tents 36 prayer-meet- 
ings at the same time ; many tents with 
board sides and cloth tops ; S. P. Coffin 
"recommended a new organization," with 
a " committee of laymen " ; " Articles of 
Argreement " adopted ; name chosen — 
" Martha's Vineyard Camp-meeting Asso- 



ciation"; $250 paid for taking care of 
the grounds. 

1861. N. P. Philbrook presiding ; new 
and fine stand erected, cost $500; new 
seats with backs, seating 4,000, costing 
$1,000; 40 society tents fronting the 
grounds; grounds included 15 acres; 
tents and cottages licensed; 10,000 at- 
tendants ; appropriations for year, $890 ; 
30 conversions. 

1862. Tent frames and cottages had 
remained through the year ; many people 
came in advance ; Geo. M. Carpenter 
presiding ; sermon by Dr. Sears, of Brown 
University; address by Governor An- 
drew ; thousands at love feast ; " Pray- 
ing Band " from New York present ; con- 
verted Jew preached ; 1 0^,000 at services ; 
about 30 conversions ; first journal issued 
— " Catnp-Meeiing Herald" — first pa- 
per of the kind in the world. 

1863. Hundreds had come weeks in 
advance ; Paul Townsend presided ; 
grounds lighted by new street lamps, cost 
$106 ; renewed post-office arrangements ; 
distinguished strangers present ; suitable 
allusions to the Rebellion in the South ; 
despite the war 10,000 present on the 
Sabbath ; movement to purchase the 
grounds 

1864. "Acres of grove south of the 
old encampment laid out and lotted " for 
" hundreds of tents and cottages " ; many 
lots taken, some new cottages built ; 
camp now covered 26 acres ; 500 cottages 
and tents; cottages cost from $150 to 
$600 ; great love feast ; above 90 testi- 
monies ; 100 ministers present ; Town- 
send presided. 

1865. Members came to spend the 
entire month of August ; the socio-relig- 
ious element becoming strong, principal 

i places on the grounds named perma- 
I nently — County street Park, Fourth street 



MARTHA'S VINEYARD. 



avenue, Cottage avenue, Fisk 
avenue, Park avenue, Trinity 
Park, Broadway, Lincoln Park 
and Forest Circle ; 15 new 
cottages, some costing $700 ; 
representatives present from 
all parts of the country ; 
Townsend presided ; 1 00 new 
lots selected; grounds pur- 
chased for $1,300. 

1866. People began to 
come "by the loth of July ; " 
found 100 families and 60 car- 
penters and painters present ; 
50 new cottages had been 
built ; " one two-and-a-half 
story building (Dunbar's), in 
the eastern part of the 
ground ; new boarding-houses 
opened ; new wharf built at 
Eastville, by Messrs. Luce & 
Littlefield, and new road 
opened to it ; additional 
grounds purchased; Samuel C liiown 
presided ; sermon by Prof. Stowe ; ser- 
mon by Dr. Stevens, (Methodist histo- 
rian) ; Vice-President H. Hamlin, pres- 
ent ; grounds "not unlike a real city ; " 
more than 16,000 persons present on the 
Sabbath ; more than 160 spoke at the 
love feast ; sermons by Dr. Scudder and I 
Dr. Patten ; deeds of the grove grounds 
received by the Association. 

1867. New movement of a new party 
— " Land and Wharf Company " had 
been formed and bought lands and { 
grove — now known as Oak Bluffs — south- 
east of Wesleyan Grove, and had built a 
wharf costing $5,000 with store-house, | 
and some cottages on their grounds. 
This excited some feeling, as it increased 
the secular element around the camp- 
meetings. But leaving Oak Bluffs for a \ 
future paragraph, we return to our notes 
of Wesleyan Grove. 




The grounds were almost thronged 
before the meeting opened — thousands 
making the beautiful, healthful place a 
summer resort ; meetings began before- 
hand ; " the combined wealth of those 
having cottages and tents here would 
amount to several million of dollars," 
and the owners "were now of several 
denominations ; " despite the crowd 
order and decorum prevailed ; Rev. H. 
Vincent (from whose excellent books we 
glean our facts), long the honored and 
able secretary of the meetings, ex- 
claimed, " Am I really in the old Wes- 
leyan Grove, or am I in some fairy land ? " 
570 tents and cottage lots rented ; 12,000 
persons in attendance. 

186S. " Rustication, the coming and 
going of people, and pastimes on a larger 
scale than ever before ; " 45 new cot- 
tages, some with French roofs, some cost 
$1,500 ; the " Narragansett House " for 



u 



MARTHAS VINEYARD. 



boarders ; ground and buildings esti- 
mated at $200,000 ; 3,000 people here 
beforehand ; Clinton avenue laid out on 
old road ; representatives of every de- 
nomination and class present; four 
steamboats plying across the waters, one 
from Boston ; 230 spoke at the second 
love feast ; more than 100 clergymen pre- 
sent ; nearly 20,000 different persons 
present during two weeks ; charter of in- 
corporation accepted ; about 1,000 tents 
and cottages — beautiful city in the 
woods ; some families remain till Octo- 
ber. 

1869. Had become withal a genuine 
watering place, — fishing, bathing, sail- 
ing — but all gave way for the camp- 
meeting ; some boarding-houses fed from 
£00 to 800 ; on the grove and at Oak 
Bluiifs about 100 new cottages, some with 
French roofs ; the Sprague cottage cost 
^3,500; new hotels; an ice-house; 
grounds enlarged and fenced ; the oaks 
in the grove being old and having lost 
much foliage an awning was constructed 
over the seats in the circle ; a wedding 
took place at the stand ; illumination 
and fire-works near by ; sermon by John 
P. Newman, d. d., chaplain of the United 
States Senate ; the Camp Meeting Her- 
ald published daily ; a number of the 
leading men of the country present, of 
all ranks and professions; 145 spoke at 
the love feast ; Sabbath School meeting, 
Governor Claflin presided and spoke, 
Hutchinson family sung, address from 
Hon. Henry Wilson ; near 70 conver- 
sions ; first and last more than 30,000 



present ; additional lands bought by in- 
dividuals; the "Vineyard Grove Com- 
pany" was formed; $12,000 worth of 
lots sold ; the new grounds finally be- 
came "The Vineyard Highlands," of 
which we shall hereafter speak. 

The grounds held in 1869 by the 
Martha's Vineyard Camp-meeting Asso- 
ciation in Wesleyan Grove, the Land and 
Wharf Company at Oak Bluffs, and the 
Vineyard Grove Company at the High- 
lands embraced about 300 acres. The 
three places together have finally gained 
the popular, comprehensive and beauti- 
ful name of "The Cottage City." The 
three places, it will be noticed, are topo- 
graphically one, and are blended in their 
appearance and chief purposes. 

Wesleyan Grove has continued to mul- 
tiply its cottages and to assume new pro- 
portions of wealth and luxury, checked 
a little by the advance of the blooming 
settlements by its sides, and the great 
revulsion of business interests suffered 
since the Summer of 1873. The religious 
element here is always the commanding 
one, and it has won the confidence and 
encomiums of all observers. 

We do not propose to proceed with 
our minute history, but to leave some- 
thing, and much, to surprise the visitor 
and repay special inquiry. We must turn 
to give some particulars respecting the 
origin and early developments of the two 
side associations, and their grounds — 
Oak Bluffs and the Highlands. We may 
then properly add some particulars of the 
later developments of Wesleyan Grove. 



(!)uk '3luff6. 



This outgrowth of the Wesleyan I incorporated fully in 1S68. The tract 
Grove camp-meetings has been under then embraced about 75 acres, lying 
the direction of the Land and Wharf southeast of the old camp-ground and 
Company that was formed in 1867 and 1 adjoining it. A wharf was built at a 



MARTHA'S VINEYARD. 



45 



cost of $5,000, and a store-house erected 
near it, 90 x 20, a story and a half high. 
Cottages at once began to go up on the 
avenues, and streets were laid through 
the tract and among the trees. 

1868. The first hotel, the Oak Bluffs 
House, was completed ; 80 feet were 
added to the wharf, giving it a length of 
320 feet, and many new cottages were 
erected. The company had then spent 
$8,000, and were assessed for ^15,000. 
Of course the cottages belonged to pri- 
vate individuals. The wilderness was 
made glad, and the desert blossomed as 
the rose. 

1869. Oak Bluffs grew as by magic. 
The company in charge were men of 
character and enterprise. Though the 
specific purpose of the settlement was 
not religious, but secular, yet all was 
arranged to be in harmony with and 
conducive to the interests of the camp- 
meetings, as the child could not but 
venerate and serve the mother. Wealthy 
men from many cities here built their 
cottages and here came with their fami 
lies and friends to spend the hot months 
of summer, and a wiser choice for 
beauty, health and pure en]0}ment 
could not have been made. Just be 
fore the camp-meeting Oak Bluffs wis 
magnificently set out in dress, grandl} 
illuminated on a preceding evening, 
while the Fo.\boro Brass Band dis 
coursed their sweetest and most insp r 
ing music. The scene and sounds su^ 
gested "the shining shore." Thiet 
hundred lots were sold, and the com 
pany projected the superb hotel no \ 
known as the Sea View House. 

From this immense hotel avenues and 
drives were constructed in every desired 
direction. From it, leading southward 
along the island's margin for half a mik 
was constructed the plank-walk fifteen 



feet in width. Parallel with this, and 
for the same distance, was built the 
asphalt boulevard, forty feet wide. Here 
sprung up, as by magic, on the shore, 
hundreds of bath-houses, some of them 
of great attractiveness, and pagoda-like 
structures for rest, and numerous places 
of refreshment and recreation. Within 
the grounds proper rose the beautiful 
Union Chapel, and hotels, one after 
another, as the people crowded to the 
grounds. Finally the railroad was built 
southward along the shore, past Senge- 
kontacket Pond to Edgartown, and then 
on to Katama and the south shore. 

Hitherto the developments of life on 
these romantic shores in these singular 
meetings — a new phase in the world's so- 
cial history — have been under the con- 
trol of thoughtful, prudent, enterprising 
religious men, and hence their results, if, 
strange and unexpected, have been only 
good. Here has been order, propriet)', 
quiet, fraternity, cheerfulness, joy and 




Methodist Chapel Cimp Grounds 



MARTHA'S VINEYARD. 



profit. If the secular has been wedded 
to the religious, has tlie union been a vio- 
lation of the letter or spirit of Christian 
law and liberty ? Some of the old Puritan 
fathers, and some of the Quaker settlers 
of Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and 



New Bedford might not answer this ques- 
tion as we do. But one grand test should 
always be applied in such cases. "By their 
fruits ye shall know them." All will be 
well if pleasure and speculation are kept 
in abeyance to law and Christian devotion. 



VimyuF-d Jii^MantiS. 



The Vineyard Grove Company, another 
child of the The Wesleyan Grove meet- 
ings, had its origin in 1869, but became 
duly incorporated in 1870. From the 
first its purposes were distinctively relig- 
ious, though the social element was con- 
templated. The grounds chosen and 
purchased embraced about 200 acres, 
lying east of Eastville, and northerly 
from Wesleyan Grove, adjoining the lat- 
ter, and known as the Highlands — the 
highest land on East Chop, commanding 
magnificent views of the eastern portion 
of the island, Nantucket and the Vine- 
yard Sounds, the Elizabeth Isles, and the 
shores of the main-land. In the lay-out 
of the tract, a large, well-wooded area 
was reserved for preaching services when- 
ever they should be called for. In 1869 
lots were sold to the amount of $12,000, 
and a wharf was projected. The com- 
pany also projected a bridge across Lake 
Anthony. The rules adopted for the 
grounds were the same as those of the 
Camp-meeting Association. 

Affairs proceeded prosperously in this 
direction. The wharf was built to re- 
ceive keels drawing eighteen feet of 
water. The large hotel, went up, known 
as the Highland House. A plank walk 
was constructed from the wharf to the 
post office in Wesleyan Grove ; another 
ninning northerly along the bluffs skirt- 
ing the Sound. And finally the wharf 
was connected by horse cars with the 
camp-grounds and by steam cars with 
Oak Bluffs, Edgartown and Katama. 



As the Baptists had always mingled 
freely and fraternally with the Method- 
ists in their great annual religious feasts, 
being indeed somewhat accustomed to 
such annual meetings in their Associa- 
tions — sometimes held in the open air — 
they now had become such an element 
in " The Cottage City " that it was at 
last suggested that they should lift their 
banner by the side of the happy Method- 
ists, on the Highlands. 

1875. The first meetings of the Bap- 
tists were held for worship and consulta- 
tion. Steps were taken for a permanent 
organization. 

1876. The Baptist Vineyard Associa- 
tion was legally incorporated in January. 
In their circular appointing their " second 
annual religious gathering at Martha's 
Vineyard," to commence August 12, and 
end August 20, 1876," they said, " the 
design of these meetings is to promote 
fraternal love and a more intimate 
acquaintanceship among the members of 
the denomination ; to discuss plans and 
methods of Christian work ; to cultivate 
a deeper spiritual tone and greater ear- 
nestness ; to inspire fresh zeal ; and in 
all proper ways to help each other by 
counsel and suggestion, that from a week 
of healthful recreation we may each re- 
turn to his own field better fitted for the 
work assigned him in the Master's vine- 
yard." 

Thus unfolded another phase of the 
religious life and movement here first in- 
stituted by the Methodists in 1835, under 



MARTHA'S VINEYARD. 



47 



nine tents pitched amid the hoary 
oaks, on the ashes of the council fires 
of the Indians. How marvelously 
have the prayers of the Methodists 
been answered? Their favorite phrase 
is "Glory to God! Amen." Suiely 
something of this glory they ha\e 
seen, and so have others. 

The Baptist grounds have become 
exceedingly beautiful. In the centre 
of the grove of oaks stands the large 
Baptist Temple, dedicated in 187S 
and kept open during most of the 
season, but devoted to the mass meet- 
ings of a week when the appointed 
time arrives, usually the week pre- 
ceding the Methodist meetings. Neai 
by the Temple stands the beautiful 
Baptist Chapel. The large hotel, the '■ 
Highland House, and boarding-houses 
are open to all comers. Cosy cottages 
arise amid the surrounding oaks. 

So there are now in "The Cottage 
City" five great places of public wor- 
ship — the Baptist Chapel, the Baptist 
Temple, the Methodist Chapel, the new 
Iron Tabernacle, and the Union Chapel 
of Oak Bluffs. And within the radius 
of a mile may now be counted 1,200 
cottages. 

The camp-meetings are a wonder. 
To be understood in any proper sense 




they must be attended. When the famed 
English author, Thomas Hughes, the 
writer of " Tom Brown at Rugby," and 
"Tom Brown at Oxford," by invitation 
of Mr. Forbes, his host, at Naushon, 
attended the meetings, he was filled with 
admiration, and asserted that it was 
worth a voyage across the Atlantic to 
hear such singing and look upon such an 
assembly. It has been estimated that 
during a given season more than 60,000 
different persons visit the place. 



JiokU. 



For the sake of visitors we make 
mention of the hotels. Landing from 
the crowded boats on the crowded piers, 
and gazing on the mile-long city, one 
needs, perhaps, a hint as to where to 
find needed accommodations: — 

I. On Oak Bluffs, (i.) The Sea 
View House, on front of Bluff, 300 feet 
long, 5 stories high, large piazzas, superb 
views of sea and island, plastered rooms 



and gas, on European plan, public and 
private rooms, elevator, accommodates 
1 300 guests. (2.) The Fawnee House, on 
Circuit avenue, among the shops, on 
European plan, gas, accommodates 200 
guests. (3.) The Baxter House, oppo- 
site the Pawnee, on European plan, gas, 
accommodates 100 guests. (4.) The Is- 
land House, near the Baxter, on European 
plan, plastered rooms, gas, accommodates 



48 



MARTHA'S VINEYARD. 



200. (5.) The National House, on Cir- 
cuit avenue. (6.) The Fitchburg House, 
•on Circuit avenue. (7.) The Graver 
House, on Narragansett avenue, on 
European plan, gas, accommodates 100. 
(8.) The Fall River Club House, on Nar- 
ragansett avenue. 

II. On Camp Ground, (i.) The 
Vineyard Grove House, on Sylvan avenue, 
accommodates cottagers with tables. 
(2.) The Wesley House, on Common, 
wealth avenue. (3.) The Howard House, 
on Commonwealth avenue. (4.) The 
Central House, on Sylvan avenue, on Eu- 
ropean plan, gas, accommodates 150 
guests. (5.) The Arcade connects the 



Camp-ground with Oak Bluffs, on Cir- 
cuit avenue. 

III. On Highlands, (i.) The High- 
land House, close to Highland wharf, 
4 stories high, superb outlook, piazzas, 
accommodates 200. (2.) The Temple 
House, in Temple Grove, on Highlands, 
100 rods north of Baptist Temple, fine 
outlook. 

IV. Remote Houses, (i.) The La- 
goon House, on heights towards Vineyard 
Haven. (2.) The Prospect House, at La- 
goon Heights, 30 rooms, fine view of 
Vineyard Haven. 

Near Vineyard Haven is located the 
Marine Hospital. 



JImmieS and J^ufM. 



A few words in reference to these, 
beginning at Oak Bluffs. 

Sea View Avenue runs from the Sea 
View House south along the beach by the 
Promenade and bath-houses parallel with 
the railroad. 

Circuit Avenue runs around the Oak 
Bluffs grounds, which are intersected by 
the many shorter avenues. 

Ocean Park is close at the south of the 
Sea View House, with Ocean Avenue I 
running around it. A little in its rear is 
Union Chapel compassed by Samoset, 
Narragansett and Grove Avenue* 

Wabaii Park is south of Ocean I'ark, I 
between Tuckernuck and Nantucket 
Avenues. 

Penacook Park, on Penacook Avenue. 

Pellulma Park is on the southwest cor- 
ner of the Bluffs grounds, between Cir- 
cuit and Naushon Avenues. 

Hartford Park, between Massasoit and 
Pequot Avenues. 

Hiawatha Park is on the west border 
of the grounds, between Circuit and Hia- 
watha Avenues. 



Naushon Park on Naushon Avenue. 

Niantic Park, triangular, is near the 
middle of the grounds, compassed by 
Tuckernuck, Wamsutta and Pocasset 
Avenues. 

Other smaller reserves are found here 
and there as ornaments 

The avenues on the Camp Ground — 
Wesleyan Grove — are numerous, wind- 
ing and beautiful. We need only name a 
few. Broadway, Trinity, Washington, 
Mount Hope, Clinton, Highland, Si- 
loam, Forest, Rural, Commonwealth and 
Lake. All the circles, squares, triangles 
and walks are romantic. We leave the 
visitor to be surprised by their pictur- 
esqueness. The Post-office, formerly on 
Commonwealth square, is now on Cir- 
cuit avenue near the Arcade, on the 
dividing line of Wesleyan Grove and 
Oak Bluffs. 

The new tabernacle, now (1879) re- 
ceiving its finishing strokes and paint, in 
Wesleyan Grove, is indeed a mammoth 
structure and magnificent for its pur- 
poses — a kind of religious crystal pal- 



\TARTHAS VINEYARD. 




Beach, and Lover's Rock, Oak Bluffs. 



ace, though made of iron. We need only 
mention that, e.xclusive of the pulpit re- 
cess, it is 140 feet square, with rounded 
corners, three arched portals, four gables, 
several stories of windows and ventila- 
tors in the roof, and a central flag-staff 
100 feet high. We leave other particu- 
lars to surprise the visitor. 

The name of the new paper published 
here is the '^ The Cottage City Star" — 
poetical and true designation. It made 



its appearance in May of this year (1879), 
under the editorship of E. H. Hatfield, 
but managed by the Vineyard Publishing 
Association. 

An additional attraction in the " Cot- 
tage City," is now found in the Vineyard 
Summer Institute, conducted by the 
ablest of teachers and attended by stu- 
dents of both sexes from all parts of the 
land. The lectures and course of studies 
are of a high order. 



These have become such an element 
in the life of the " Cottage City " as to 
deserve some particular notice. The 
particular recreations are promenading, 
driving over the island, bathing, fishing 
and boating. The asphalt walks and 
avenues and plank promenades lead in 
every direction. The drives lead out to 
the villages, hamlets and hills of the 
island. Great thoroughfares, by carriage 
and rail, extend to the various shores 
and remote hotels. Boats of every 
size, from sculls to yachts, are in wait- 
ing to bound over the waves for pleasure 



or for fishing. Such as do not choose 
to ride upon the billows can cast hooks 
i from the bridges and banks on the 
ponds. In the " Cottage City " are ten- 
pin alleys, base ball grounds, croquet- 
lawns, and last, but not least, the great 
roller-skating rink, north of the Sea 
View House. This rink, just completed, 
at a cost of about $5,000, measures 184 
by 87 feet, with a height in the centre 
of 37 feet, having an arched roof, five 
cupolas, and a tower at each corner. 
Readers can be supplied with books 
from Dickerman's Circulating Library. 



MARTHA'S VINEYARD. 



Entering Edgartown (Oldtown) Har- 
bor, we remember that here, in June, 
1603, Martin Pring came to anchor and 
remained till August. He called the 
harbor Whitson's Bay, and named the 
neck of the island of Chappaquiddick, 
under which he cast anchor, Mount Aid- 
worth. Afterward Capt. Thomas Der- 
mer landed here, and had some serious 
difficulty with the natives, some of whom 
were killed in the encounter. 

Touching the real settlement of Ed- 
gartown we have before spoken. Prob- 
ably a few families had chosen their 
abodes near Pease Point or Green Hol- 
low before the settlement of the May- 
hew's, the elder of whom seems to have 
come here withal as a merchant. The 
town became incorporated in 1671 under 
the government of New York, and the 
elder Thomas Mayhew became the first 
governor. The head of Edgartown Har- 
bor is called Cotamy Bay. 

We have previously spoken of the two 
Mayhews, father and son. After the 
son's death the father here preached and 
conducted the mission. Succeeding them 
as ministers of the Presbyterian Church, 




Twin Cottage. Highlands. 



we may mention Jonathan Dunham, or- 
dained in 1694; Samuel Wiswall, 
ordained in 17 13, and dying in 1746, was 
followed by John Newman ; Samuel 
Kingsbury ordained in 1761 ; Joseph 
Thaxter, ordained in 1780, and remained 
for forty-seven years till his death. 

Like New Bedford and Nantucket, Ed- 
gartown early and energetically entered 
upon the business of whale fishing, and 
after shore fishing subsided fitted her 
large keels for Atlantic, Indian and Pa- 
cific ocean voyages. Her excellent and 
deep harbor, the outer between Cape 
Poge and Starbuck Neck, and also the 
smooth inner, presented a lively forest of 
masts, while the jolly whale-boats flew 
like seabirdson the waters. On account 
of the depth of the harbor and the ex- 
cellent fresh water of the island, many 
ships from Nantucket here hauled in to 
fill their casks before putting to sea. 

In King Philip's war the Indians on 
Martha's Vineyard, through the influence 
of Governor Mayhew, remained neutral, 
though Philip sent here his emmissaries 
to stir the native blood. Christianity 
had introduced its saving leaven. 

^ From the exposed condition of 

the island, in the colonial wars, in 

the Revolution, and in the War of 

S12, the inhabitants suffered many 

nd great losses. They were plun- 

ered by French privateers and 

eeled by the crews of English 

eets Their vessels were seized 

or destroyed, and many of the 

young men were carried away to 

ser\e in British men-of-war, or to 

pine iway and die in prison ships. 

In \iin did the leading islanders 

plead their Quaker sentiments — 



MARTHAS VINEYARD. 



which were sincere — and their 
solemn pledges of neutrality. 
Their fruits, flocks, vessels and 
persons were at the mercy of a 
powerful enemy, for the inhabi- 
tants of the main were power- 
less to defend or succor them. 

Edgartown is the seat of 
justice for Dukes County, and 
the courts here held give it 
legal weight and interest to 
all who have questions at law. 
The Marcy House well enter- 
tains all dignitaries, disputants 
and regular summer visitors, 
and chance travelers. Walk- 
ing through the town, you 
might have seen a few years since, as 
the writer saw, at the entrance to Capt. 
A. K. Fisher's arbor, the jaw-bone of a 
sperm whale. As the jaw stood on the 
ground, you could walk, hat on, through 
the dividing parts. Should you enter the 
mansions of some of the vikings, you 
would be most hospitably received and 
entertained with stories of the stormy 
deep and far-off lands. 

Besides the court-house, jail, county 
offices, custom-house and a bank, the 




town has its excellent churches, Congre- 



Tackers Cottage Oak Bluffs 



gationalist, Baptist and Methodist. The 
hotels are the Marcy House, the Seaside 
House, the Vineyard House and Atlantic 
House. Fine and well-manned boats are 
at the bidding of fishing parties or pic- 
nicers. A railroad runs to Katama and 
the south shore, and also runs northerly 
to Oak Bluffs. 

The Vineyard Gazette began its issues 
more than a generation ago, and is a 
rich depository of the Island's history 
since its origin. 



Jyaiama. 



New enterprises are now springing up, 
and new summer resorts are being se- 
lected. Katama, opened in 1872, on 
the south shore, near Matakeset Bay, is 
already a favorite spot, having its fine 
large hotel, Matakeset Lodge, with its 
ample rooms, piazzas, promenades, and 
accommodations for bathing. Grand, 
indeed, is the outlook on the ocean, while 
the shore view westward to Squipnocket 
Point and No-Man's-Land are peculiarly 
impressive, as the great billows of the 
deep roll in on the sands and bluffs. 



Such as wish for inland fishing may 
find it in Sengekontacket Pond on the 
east, south of the camp-grounds, or in 
Herring Pond at the west of Katama. 
Charms, too, belong to Chappaquid- 
dick Island, on the southeast, with its 
Sampson's Hill and Union Meeting- 
house, two Humane Houses, Wasque 
Bluff and Poge Light. Mark Cape Poge ; 
see how the name was derived from its 
Indian name, Cap-a-wack, Cap-o-ag, 
Cap-oge, Cape Poge. Near 1872 a gale 
closed up the southern end of Edgartown 



52 



MARTHAS VINEYARD. 



Harbor so that Chappaquiddick has not 
been since that time a separate island. 
Such obstructions have, however, oc- 
curred before. We are told that no part 
of our coast has raised as many ship- 
masters as Chappaquiddick, considering 
its area. 

Edgartown has been the birth-place 
of not a few men distinguished for their 
services on land and sea, fishermen, pilots, 
captains, civilians and students. Here 
was born, in 1768, Jervis Cutler, who 
became a western pioneer, and wrote 
"A Topographical Description of the 
Western Country, with an account of the 
Indian Tribes." This is the home of 
Rev. H. Vincent, a. m., the distinguished 
secretary and historian of the Wesleyan 
Grove Meetings. 

While the ordinary population of the 
township of Edgartown is near 2,000, in 
the summer it is swelled to near 40,000. 
This rise and fall of the social tide will 
hereafter be deeply studied, and out of it 
some new ideas will be secured. 

Edgartown, like other seaports, can 
furnish its social clique of eminent 
men of eminent wisdom in all marine 
affairs, who have their regular and ir- 
regular meetings at a central business 




The Oldest House in Eilgart. 



place. This is the so-called Corn Ex- 
change, where all is not corn that is ex- 
changed. The trade is in ideas, and 
every one seems to be furnished with pro- 
digious capital. They have seen every 
thing but the sea-serpent, and the reason 
they have not seen this is that they har- 
poon everything that they see. When 
Captain Fisher was president, and a 
stranger present remarked that Edgar- 
town seemed to him like a paradise as 
all the people had good bouses and fine 
grounds and j et lived without work, while 
in his native place all were obliged to 
toil for a subsistence, the captain said, 
" Friend, when you go home don't tell 
your people how we live here ; if you do 
they will make a rush for Edgartown, 
and we have enough of such poor, lazy 
devils here now." 

The principal streets of the place are 
Water, Summer, School and Main. 

The oldest house in Edgartown is in 
the western part of the village, south of 
Water street, and was built by Dea. Wil- 
liam Mayhew's father, not far from 1700, 
and is known as the Mayhew house. 
The site of Governor Mayhew's house 
was a little to the east of this ; and near 
by are the old graves, those of the Gov- 
ernor and his wife being 
without slabs. It were well 
if a little monument were 
placed upon this spot. 

The Edgartown cemetery, 
in the western part of the 
\illage, laid out by R. L. 
Pease, in 1842, has been en- 
larged three times, and is a 
credit to the town. Here 
you find the monument of 
Rev. Joseph Thaxter, a chap- 
l.im in the Revolution, in 
I'rescott's regiment. He died 
in July, 1827, aged 83 years. 



MARTHA'S VINEYARD 




A Glimpse of Edgartown. 

Here, too, is the monument of the rich j his estate with his heirs for twenty-five 
Norton, once \ per cent, discount. It is told that he 



old bachelor, Ichabod 
called "the bank of Edgartown." Be- 
fore his death he made all possible 
arrangements for his exit, had his monu- 
ment built, his coffin made, and settled 



held his creditors in three classes, " the 
Lord's poor, the devil's poor, and poor 
devils." We cannot learn into which 
class he himself fell at last. 



BltUmalk. 



This township, between Tisbury and 
Gay Head, was named after a locality in 
Wiltshire, England. Its western border 
contains a charming range of hills, with 
huge boulders and considerable forests. 
At Roaring Brook the superior clays 
have induced the erection of famous 
brick works, moved by improved steam 
machinery, under the management of 
the Vineyard Brick and Tile Works. 
Here are manipulated more than eighty 
tons of clay daily, making a brick per 
second, or 30,000 per day. The kiln 
department will contain 1,000,000 bricks 
piled for burning. 

A mile or two from the brick works is 
a paint mill, on a large scale, utilizing 
the valuable clays for decorative pur- 
poses, for oil cloths, and even for interior 
house-painting. The ochre is particu- 
larly valuable. 

The Indian name of this section of 



the island was Nashouohkamuck. No 
wonder it was abandoned. The town 
has its two churches, Methodist and 
Congregational. The first ministers of 
the latter were Ralph Thacher ; William 
Holmes, ordained in 1715 ; Andrew 
Boardman, in 1746 ; Jonathan Smith, in 
1788. 

Chilmark has the honor of being the 
birth-place of Hon. Timothy Fuller. 

The cliffs at Nashaquitsa, on the south 
shore of Chilmark, though a hundred and 
fifty feet in height, '■ in nine years pre- 
ceding 1853, " were eaten away by the 
billows and storms, fifty feet back into 
the island. 

Chilmark Great Pond, nearly two miles 
long, on the southern shore, is really two 
bodies of water artificially connected. A 
small pond near the northwestern corner 
of the town, embracing about an acre, 
stands seventy feet above the sea, and is 



54 



MARTHAS VINEYARD. 



so deep that it was once reported to be 
bottomless, as it defied the fathoming 
line. The places of note on the western 
shore are Lambert's Cove, Paul's Point, 
Cedar Tree Neck, and Cape Higgon. 
Indian Hill, on the north, is also a good 
lookout. But the township is full of rural 
quiet and ancient associations. Sheep 
pastures and cottages lie scattered along 
the plains and among the hills. 

The Methodist Church, like the old 
country churches on the main, stands on 
the intersection of the roads, and has 
its complement of sheds for the farmers' 
horses. Chilmark has still attractions 
for the hunter and sportsman. Here are 
found raccoons, rabbits and muskrats. 
Indeed, fo.xes have here been caught. 

Qaij 

Of this celebrated peninsula, called by 
the aborigines Aquinnah, Dr. Hitchcock 
says, " there is not a more interesting spot 
in the State to a geologist," and pro- 
nounces it also " a most picturesque ob- 
ject of scenery." " Here," says another, 
"are all sorts of fossils, from petri- 
fied quahaugs as big as your thumb-nail 
to the skeletons of monsters that might 
have swallowed the whale that swallowed 
Jonah." The folding strata of vari- 
colored clays, white, red, yellow, blue, 
black, green, give to the blufiEs and banks 
a fantastic and fascinating aspect ; from 
their outcrops and dips they are judged 
to be in all 2,000 feet in thickness. But 
Gay Head must be visited and studied, 
as it is by thousands of the curious and 
studious, to be in any measure compre- 
hended. Gosnold called the lofty, beau- 
tiful point Dover Cliff, as reminding him 
of the charming English shore. On the 
point, which is itself a hundred and thirty 
feet above the sea, stands the widely 



And of the winged tribe here is large 
variety, heath-hens, woodcock, quails, 
plover and shore-birds. Of the aquatic 
kind are black ducks, blue-bills, red- 
heads, white-winged coots, sheldrakes, 
old-squaws, white-bellies, loons, dippers, 
and wild geese. We saw one stuffed 
specimen of the killer-hawk, a rare bird 
indeed. Still another rare bird, a wader, 
was shown us that no one could name. 

We have mentioned Prospect Hill. 
This is one of the points chosen by our 
Coast Survey in the triangulation of the 
coast, the other points being Mount 
Hope in Rhode Island, and Monu- 
ment Hill at Plymouth. The pond on 
the summit of Prospect Hill attracts 
much attention and study. 

Mead. 

known Gay Head light-house about fifty 
feet high, holding up one of the finest 
lights in the world — a Fresnel lens of 
the best class, composed of 1,003 pieces, 
of the selectest glass, of different forms, 
so cut, polished and arranged as to throw 
the light horizontally far out on the sea to^ 
the anxious voyager. The lamp of cir- 
cular wick is kept full and revolving by 
machinery. The apparatus cost $16,000. 
The lamp burns three gallons of purest 
oil nightly. In a single year 95,000 ves- 
sels have passed this light. 

Southwesterly from the light-house is 
the notable glen — bowl-shaped, 100 feet 
deep, 1,200 feet around — leading down 
to the shore, that has gained the unenvi- 
able sobriquet of the Devil's Den, the 
old home of the giant Maushope, of 
whom we have previously spoken. Some 
of the crystals and geological specimens 
here found were styled by the Indians- 
" Maushope's needles." So he was a. 
tailor withal. 



MARTHA'S VINEYARD. 



Mayhew, speaking of the 
natives on tliis island says, 
" their false gods were many, 
both of things in heaven, 
earth and sea ; and there they 
had their men-gods, women- 
gods and children-gods, their 
companies and fellowships of 
gods or divine powers, guid- 
ing things amongst men, 
besides innumerable more 
feigned gods belonging to 
many creatures, to their corn 
and every color of it ; the 
devil also, with his angels, 
had his kingdom among 
them." 

The natives of Gay Head 
were won to Christianity by Thomas May- 
hew, Sen., the governor of the islands. 
His son Thomas, lost at sea in 1657, left 
three sons. Matthew, who became governor 
of Martha's Vineyard after his grand- 
father's death in 1681, and also preached 
to the Indians; Thomas, who became 
judge in the county court ; and John, who 
settled as preacher with the Tisbury 
Church and also preached to the natives. 
This John left a son, Experience Mayhew, 
who graduated at Harvard College and 
preached to the Indians, taking "charge 
of five or six different congregations." 
He it was who, by appointment of the 
Commissioners of the Society for Pro- 
. pagating the- Gospel in New England, 
made a new version of the Psalms and 
the Gospel of John in the Indian tongue, 
a work of ''great accuracy, completed in 
1709." 

As early as 1694 there was an Indian 
Baptist Church at Gay Head. On its 
roll of ministers we find Stephen Tacka- 
mason, Isaac Decamy, Josias Horswet, 
Samuel Kakenchew and Silas Jones. 

Alas! In 1720 the tribe had dimin- 




Gay Head Light. 

ished to about 800 ; in 1749 to about 165 ; 
in 1848, at Gay Head, to 174; in 1870, 
whole number, 227; natives, 188; for- 
eigners, 39. 

The Indian blood has been mixed and 
confounded, and the native language, 
once used in Scripture study and in 
psalms, has utterly died away. The visi- 
tor, however, may yet see Indian features, 
cabins, gardens, schools and occupations. 
The present preacher amongst them is 
Charles H. Kent, a white man. 

Across the neck of land connecting 
Gay Head Point and Bluff with the body 
of the island, are large and piscatorially 
valuable ponds — Menemsha on the 
north, Squipnocket on the south, with 
Nashaquitsa nearly between them. 
Were these ponds made by the giant 
footsteps of old Maushope ? Gay Head 
has also its needed Humane House for 
help in cases of shipwreck, located on 
Squipnocket beach. 

No-Man's-Land, four miles south from 
Squipnocket Point and six and a half 
from Gay Head, is really out at sea, and 
constitutes the lookout station of pilots. 



III. 



Patttitftift. 



' Far I'ounil the bleak and stormy cape. 

The vent' rous Macy passed, 
And on Nantucket's naked isle 
Brew up his boat at last." 



previous chapter we have 
g spoken of the two tribes of natives 
of this island, their legends, wars 
pr^e and conversion. In 1641, the 
"H island, with its four little isles, 
was deeded by the agents of the Earl of 
Stirling and Sir Ferdinando Gorges, to 
Thomas Mayhew, by whom, in 1659, the 
most of it was sold to nine persons, who 



Massachusetts Quakers were suffering 
.sore persecution, one of their number, 
Thomas Macy, of Salisbury, having 
given shelter to Friends during a tempest, 
and so fallen under the public ban, to 
avoid punishment and find a land of 
liberty, took his family in a boat and by 
pull of oar and sail at last reached and 
landed on the northern shore of Nan- 



were thus associated with him. These tucket. Whittier sings this voyage in 
were Thomas Barnard, Tristram Coffin, | "The E.xile." Macy accepted as an 
Peter Coffin, Stephen Greenleaf, Christo- associate Edward Starbuck, of Salisbury, 
pher Hussey, Thomas Macy, William 1 So the Macys and Starbucks have ever 
Pile, Richard Swain, John Swain, the i been the star names of Nantucket. To 
these, however, are added the names of 
some of the first purchasers, particularly 
the Coffins and Mayhews. The first 
settlement was made at Maddequet Har- 
bor, near the west end, where the first 
town was built. 

Another worthy settler was Peter Fol- 
ger, whose daughter Abiah became the 
mother of Benjamin Franklin. Peter 
was surveyor, miller, weaver, and also 
particularly an interpreter with the In- 
dians. By invitation he came over from 
Martha's Vineyard, where he had assisted 
in teaching the Indian youth reading, 
writing and the catechism. At Nan- 



most of whom lived in Salisbury, Mass., 
the price being thirty pounds in money 
and two beaver hats, one for himself and 
one for his wife. The ten were allowed 
to select associates, and they selected the 
following : Robert Barnard, Tristram 
Coffin, Jr., James Coffin, Thomas Cole- 
man, Thomas Look, Thomas Mayhew, 
Jr., Robert Pike, Edward Starbuck, 
Nathaniel Starbuck, John Smith. They 
next preceded to purchase most of the 
island and its adjuncts of the native 
sachems. As yet, however, no one had 
entered upon the island to reside. 

In the Autumn of 1659, when the 



58 



NANTUCKET. 



tucket he became a Baptist and intro- 
duced his sentiments to many of his fel- 
low islanders. 

We have alluded to the Indians of 
Nantucket. Their history is instructive. 
The two tribes, when found by the whites, 
were as separate as two hostile nations ; 
they had recently been engaged in a 
sanguinary war. The line that divided 
them ran from the present town of Nan- 
tucket straight across the island to the 
South Shore, by Weweeder Pond, where 
was once an old cod-fishing stage. 

Then, too, each tribe was divided by 
fixed boundaries into two parts or sa 
chemdoms. The sachems of the western 
tribe were Potcone and Autopscot ; those 
of the eastern, Wauwinet and Wanack- 
mamack. With the latter and one Nicka- 
noose the settlers negotiated for most of 
the island. Here came Macy, the May- 
hews and Folger, and the Indian preach- 
ers from Martha's Vineyard ; and here 
was read Eliot's Indian Bible, and here 
was sung in the Indian language the 
Psalms of David. In 1665 King Philip 
visited the island to arrest an Indian 
refugee, but failed in his errand. 

Tradition gives us a story wherein 
Cupid out-generaled Mars. King Philip 
instigated the tribe on the west end of 
the island to draw their bows against the 
tribe on the east end, perhaps on account 
of the refusal of the eastern tribe to pay 
their tribute of wampum for war service 
to the king. It so happened that a maid 
of the western tribe was betrothed to a 
brave of the eastern tribe. At the same 
time it was forbidden to any one to pass 
the boundary line of the tribes without 
permission, on penalty of death. But 
love was stronger than law. In the 
darkness of the night the maid glided 
tlirough the woods, and reaching the 
shore, crossed the Isoundary by wading 



in the ocean for a long distance and 
then emerged. Finding her lover she 
gave information of the intended attack. 

' The endangered tribe was thus put upon 
its guard, and the impending battle was 
prevented. Love played the heroic and 

■ arrested the arm of sanguinar}' passion. 
Some poet ought to celebrate the brave 
Indian maid. 

In 1665 King Philip, with a band of 
his braves, visited Nantucket to seize and 
slay an Indian who had spoken ill of 
Philip's father, Massasoit. The Indian 
fled, but the natives of the island were 
compelled to pay a heavy ransom for 
him. In 1674 this Indian was a preacher 
to an Indian church of thirty members. 
Philip's policy in this matter was in ac- 
cordance with an old Indian law. No ill 
language respecting a dead king was 
allowed. 

The islanders will yet point out to you 
the sites of the Indian meeting-houses, 
school-houses, wigwams and burying- 
grounds, and recite to you strange and 
touching stories. The history of the 
tribes here, if fully written, would surpass 
the interest of a drama. They steadily 

' waned before the light of civilization. 
The "plague" of 1763 raged amongst 
them for si.x months, leaving but 220 
survivors. The last full-bloode.d Indian 
died in 1821. The last half-breed, Abram 
Quary, died in 1854. Zaccheus Macy 
mentions the manner in which the Indians 
closed their religious services. "When 
the meeting was done they would take 
their tinder-box and strike fire and light 
their pipes, and, may be, would draw three 
or four whiffs and swallow the smoke, and 
then blow it out of their noses, and so hand 
their pipes to their next neighbor. And 
one pipe of tobacco would serve ten or a 
dozen of them. And they would say 
'tawpoot,' which is, 'I thank you.'" 



NANTUCKET. 



JcankmM Sowid. 



This sheet of water has been historic 
from the days when native fleets of canoes 
sped over its bosom on errands of peace 
or for purposes of war. Before the in- 
troduction of civilized harpoons this was 
a favorite habitat of whales, and the In- 
dians and first white settlers on these 
shores availed themselves of this source 
of revenue. The attacks were made in 
small boats and the " try-works " were 
■on the shores. This kind of whaling 
from the shore commenced in 1673, and 
the places of landing the monster game 
were styled " whale-houses." 

We here recall the story that in 1664, 
the vessel from Martha's Vineyard in 
which Joel, the son of the Indian preach- 
er Hiacoomes, was returning to Boston 
as a senior in Harvard College, was 
wrecked on Nantucket and all on board 



were drowned or killed by the natives. 
Also we remember the account that on 
the 6th of June, 1669, a canoe contain- 
ing John Barnard and his wife Bethia, 
Eleazer Folger, Isaac Coleman, and an 
Indian, in crossing from the Vineyard to 
Nantucket, was upset, and all were lost 
except Eleazer Folger, who clung to the 
canoe and was drifted on to a shoal, 
where he could touch the bottom," and 
where, " with a plowshare," found tied to 
the canoe he "bailed out the water," and 
so escaped. What wrecks have occurred 
on the shoals and shores of Nantucket ! 
Arthur A. Gardner has gathered notices 
of over 500 vessels wrecked in this 
vicinity since the days of Gosnold. 
Many others are without record. But 
we are approaching the bell-buoy on the 
bar. 



Jhe rj4land4. 



Nantucket, you perceive, lies long and 
low, like a monster on the deep, as a 
giant whale with her little young whales 
by her side. Its length is about sixteen 
miles and its average width four miles. 
The highest point of the island is Macy's 
Hill, in the middle of the eastern part, . 
ninety-one feet above the level of the sea. 
The adjunct islands are, beginning at 
the west, Muskeget, the two Gravelly 
Islands and Tuckemuck (loaf of bread). 
South of the latter is Smith's Point 
(sometimes an island), and east of it is 
Maddequet harbor, now neglected. Nan- 
tucket harbor has a long and shallow ex- 
tension to the northeast of the town, 
called Head of the Harbor, like a long 
sack running near the coast, and this is 
used only by boats and shallow keels. 
Throughout the island, as it lies so low, 



may be found ponds of various dimen- 
sions valuable for fish and peat. Nan- 
tucket reminds us of the Sea Islands on 
our southern coast. 

At one time 10,000 sheep might 
have been seen grazing in the pastures, 
many of them occupying large commons, 
and known only by their owners' " crops 
and brands." There was a Town Pas- 
ture, North Pasture, Middle Pasture and 
South Pasture. In June the flocks were 
driven into inclosures, washed and 
sheared on Miacomet Plain on the east 
of the pond ; and these were great days 
for the farmers and all the islanders, 
I The " commons remained from the earli 
est times to near the middle of the pre 
sent century, and " The Sheep Question ' 
often agitated the popular mind. Indeed 
much land yet remains in common. Of 



NANTUCKET. 



the four side isles only Tuckernuck af- 
fords good pasturage. 

Just a word here of Nantucket fogs. 
Should any one speak derogatorily of 
them, you may tell him the smoking story 
of old Maushope who inhabited the 
Devil's Den on Martha's Vineyard ; or 
the still better one of the Nantucket 
whaling captain who on leaving the port 
stuck a harpoon into the fog bank and 
on his return three years after, "fell in 
with the harbor at the very same spot." 

illw Jialbot. 

Nantucket harbor has its peculiarity. 
The island is shaped much like a jib 
running east and west, its foot at the 
east, its top at the west, its south or stay- 
side rounded out on the ocean, and its 
inner side on the north, hollowed in. g 
From this hollowing curve the harbor ^^ 
runs into the island like a sack with a | 
half-tied mouth, with Brant Point on the S. 
west and Coatue on the east. Outside p 
of these points is the long bar so \\ell | 
known to all helmsmen, on which at low % 
ebb there is an average of but about 
seven feet of water. This crossed the 
harbor proper is one of the finest on oui 
New England coast. 

You may have heard how the larger 
whale-ships were lifted over this bar as 
De Witt floated ships out of Amsterdam 
This was done by what were called camels, 
planned by Peter F. Ewer, consisting 
of huge, long, flat water-tight structures 
surrounding and attached to the sides of 
a ship, longer than the ship, yet fitted to 
her length and curves. Filled with water 
they sank to the water's edge. They 
were then grappled to their burden by 
undergirding cables. Next the water in 
them was pumped out, when they took 
the ship on their shoulders and bore her 
over the bar. 




NANTUCKET. 



You notice the important liglit on 
Brant Point. A history belongs to the 
light-houses on that point. The first 
was burnt in 1759. A second was blown 
down in 1774. A third was burnt in 
1783. A fourth was a wooden-framed 
lantern between two spars. A fifth 
blew down. Up to this point the labor 
and expense of the lights had been borne 



by the people of the town. Now, at 
last, our Government assumed the re- 
sponsibility, and we have the excellent 
Brant Point light. The two Bug Lights, 
one north of the town, between Brant 
Point and the cliff at the west, the other 
across the harbor, southeast of the town, 
are merely guides for crossing the bar 
and entering the harbor. 



Miaiin§. 



Not inappropriately has Nantucket 
been termed " The Home of the Whale 
Fishery. " Some say the bold, hardy is- 
landers were initiated in the craft by Icha- 
bod Paddock, of Cape Cod. However, 
with an extemporized harpoon, they be- 
gan on a scrag in 1668. In 1672 they 
■established whaling stations on the shores 
and erected lookouts for the spouting 
monsters. At the stations they built rude 
try-works and coopers' shops, and John 
Savage was the artistic cooper ; Indians 
assisting in chasing, catching, cutting up 
and trying the leviathans. Eleven whales 
was the largest catch of a single day. 
The first sperm whale was caught in 
1712. In 1715 the boats and whalers 
ventured far off upon the ocean. Shore 
whaling continued till near 1760, when 
the business branched out upon the 
ocean, the vessels carrying try-works on 
their decks. In 1775 Nantucket owned 
150 whalers, some of them large brigs. 
The Revolution, for the time, crushed 
the bold enterprise and well nigh ruined 
the island. How it was revived through 
Joseph Rotch and his negotiations with 
France we have recited in our notes on 
New Bedford. There, too, we spoke, of 
the ships, Falkland, Harmony, Beaver and 
Rebecca. The Harmony was finally 
sunk on the Brazil banks by a stroke from 
a whale. 



Before the War of 1812 Nantucket had 
40 ships in the fishery ; when peace 
was declared she had but 20 left. 
In 1824 she had increased her fleet to 
90 ships, and had also 100 keels engaged 
in coasting. In 1834 the whaling keels 
amounted to 25,357 tons. In 1840 the 
island had 70 whale-ships and reported a 
property of ^6, 000,000, with a population 
of 9,600, and had five large, long wharves, 
10 ropewalks, 36 candle factories, with 
sail-lofts, cooper shops, boat shops and 
blacksmith shops to compare with other 
interests. Once the island had five 
windmills. The whaling business was 
the life of the place, and large fortunes 
were accumulated. The town suffered 
a terrible blow by the fire of July 13, 
1846, that destroyed, in ths middle and 
north part of it, wharves, stores, factories, 
shops and dwellings valued at $1,000,000. 
With marvelous alacrity, however, the 
people began anew their whaling enter- 
prise. 

You will yet find the town full of the 
indications and memories of that ad- 
venturous pursuit. Only the bold Nan- 
tucket men can instruct you in all the 
arts requisite in seizing Atlantic, Arctic, 
Antartic, Pacific and Indian Ocean 
whales. 

Whaling in the Pacific began in 1791. 
One of the Nantucket steeples, the North 



NANTUCKET. 




Low Beach, Nantucket. 



Tower, was constructed in 1795 to serve 
as a lookout, that the islanders, espe- 
cially the pilots, might descry their in- 
ward bound ships. By the way, it was 
in this same year that the first bank 
was started, and was soon robbed of 
•J 2 2, 000. 

The Nantucketers are a kind and 
grateful people. When Lafayette suc- 
cessfully used his influence in securing 
open French ports for American pro- 
ducts, including whale-oil and spermaceti 
candles, the islanders met and resolved 
to send him the avails of the yield of all 
their cows for a particular day. The 
gift-cheese weighed 500 pounds. 

They tell us that the first ship con- 
structed in Nantucket was the Neptune, 



built in 1765, the previous keels having 
been sloops, schooners and brigs. They 
add with pride that the first vessel to 
fly the Stars and Stripes in the British 
Channel was the ship Bedford, from 
Nantucket. Among the many brave 
captains of whom they boast, they make 
special mention of Capt. Obed Fitch, a 
man of prodigious muscle and mighty 
in managing both ships and men. His 
splendid record in sealing and whaling 
ought to be given to the public. One 
story relative to him deserves to be put 
in rhyme : — 

Herculean oavigator he, — 
The famous captain of Nantucket, 

Who, washing- decks, could bail the sea 
With harness-cask in lieu of bucket. 



She Samn. 



The old town, located in 1673, by or- were employed and the demands of uhal- 

der of Governor Lovelace, of New York, ing required better accommodations, 

at .Maddequet harbor, was named Sher- when in 1723 the Straight wharf wascon- 

burne ; and that remained the centre of structed in the present harbor, at a place 

trade and population till heavier keels which is now the foot of Main street. 



64 



NANTUCKET. 



The Indians called this locality Wesko 
— White Stone. In 1795 the name of 
the town was changed from Sherburne to 
its present designation — the same as 
that of the island. Population here in- 
creased till 1845. During the Revolu- 
tion, the islanders, on account of their 
position, were largely neutral, yet they 
suffered severely. The surrounding wat- 
ers were full of British war-ships and 
cruisers, and "when the British landed 
here in 1779 and sacked the stores of the 
town of what few goods they had," the 
cup of the islanders' " sorrow was full to 
overflowing." The war cost Nantucket 
about 1,600 lives. But in days of peace 
stout hearts and hands built up the town 
and filled it with the treasures of the deep. 
Altogether the town has a regular and 
delightful appearance, especially as you 
approach it from the harbor, and its 
streets have unusual order for a mari- 
time New England town that grew far 
beyond the expectations of its founders. 
The chief streets leading westward are 
Main, Broad and Eastern ; those leading 
north and south. South Water, North 
Water, Federal, Centre, Orange, Fair, 
Pine and Pleasant. Other streets, how- 
ever, are beautiful. Still we find on many 
of the houses the lookouts — walks they 
call them — overlooking the town, island 
and waters. Most of the houses are 
shingled on the sides. Some of the resi- 
dences of the old ship-owners and cap- 
tains are elegant in style and sumptuous 
in their furnishings. As you walk through 
the place you notice the large paving 
stones, the asphalt walks and the fine 
trees. Not a few of the gardens are 
largely ornamented with fruitful grape 
vines. Around the old wharves are 
splendid yawls, fishing-boats and yachts. 
The fishermen of the island send off 
about 4,000 pounds of fish per day. 



In 1826 Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin, a 
relative of the Nantucket Coffins, visited 
the town and honored himself by found- 
ing and endowing the present excellent 
CoflSn school. The endowment was 
;^2,5oo. The building of brick and 
stone, erected in 1852, stands on Winter 
street. 

In 1827, through the noble efforts of 
Hon. S. H. Jenks, the present efficient 
and prized High School was established. 
Lower grades of schools are well main- 
tained. 

A private academy was started in 1800, 
in which year a bell was hung in the 
North Tower. A social library was 
formed in 1815 ; and the Columbian 
Library was instituted in 1823. 

In 1849 broke on the land the Cali- 
fornia fever, and soon 1,000 Nantucket- 
ers had reached the Golden Gate or the 
shining hills. 

The town has its foreign elements and 
foreign names. One part of the suburbs 
is styled Guinea, another is called Egypt. 

Monument Square is on Main street at 
the meeting of Milk and Gardner streets. 
The Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument is 
of Quincy granite and cost $3,000. Its 
dedication reads as follows : — 
" Eternal Hcmor 
To the Sons of Nantucket, 

Who by land and sea 

Gave their lives to preserve a 

United Country. 

istil - 18KJ." 

On the three remaining faces are cut 
the seventy three names of the martyrs. 

The water-works, located on the heights 
west of the town, just finished at a cost 
of $20,000, are the property of Moses 
Joy. 

The once famous wharves, beginning 
at the south, are Commercial, South, 
Straight, Old North and New North. 
We land at the latter. 



NANTUCKET. 



65 



^'ubik Suildinoi. 

The first meeting-houses on the island 
belonged to the converted Indians. Dr. 
Cotton says " there were three churches, 
and five c i In s 




Old Mill, Nantucket. 

Quaker meetings began in 1704, under 
Thomas Story, a pure and successful 
preacher, and the Society he planted 
soon enrolled hundreds. Here the Friends 
have ever been numerous and influential. 
Two of their meeting-houses are now 
found on the island. 

Other churches, in due time, were 
planted, Baptist, Congregational, Unita- 
rian, Universalist, Catholic, Episcopal 
and Methodist. 

Besides the churches, we here find a 
Court-house, a Custom-house, public halls, 
a National Bank, a Savings Bank, and 
the following hotels: Ocean House, 
on Broad street, Springfield House, 
on North Water street, Sherburne House, 
and Bay View House, on Orange street. 

The large Asylum, with its farm lands, 
stands in full view at the south of the 



harbor, on the left of the road leading to 
Siasconset. 

By all means you must visit the Athe- 
naeum, incorporated in 1834, and spend, 
if you can, hours in examining its rich 
treasures. Besides its 4,000 volumes, it 
is a veritable museum, containing natural 
and artificial specimens from the remotest 
lands. 

So troublesome at one time were the 
Indians that the whites appointed one of 
their number, named Kadooker, to ad- 
judge iheir cases of injustice and brawl. 
His method was peculiar. Before be- 
ginnir.g a case he had both parties called 
up and soundly flogged. Hence the 
Nantucketers still speak of " Kadooker 
law." No doubt in many cases it ought 
still to be administered. 

Here you may find a peculiar relic of 
former times, what probably you will 
meet in no other place in New England, 
a town crier; and Clark is a host in 
himself; he lifts up his voice and cries 
indeed ; and then he swells his sounding 
horn ; and then he cries again ; verily 
he magnifies his office and gives new 
thought and animation to the town. He 
heralds the coming and going of steam- 
ers, the sales of meats and goods, the 
opening of auctions and shows, the 
hours of business at great points, and 
the issues of papers and the new changes 
of the markets. He trumpets the ap- 
proach of a steamer from the church 
tower, giving four blasts of his horn, 
one to each of the cardinal points of the 
compass, that the citizens may be pre- 
pared to meet friends or strangers. 

Ji<iu6€ of l^'ammon6. 

But Nantucket is by no means fully 
enjoyed or understood without an ac- 
quaintance with that able and wise as- 



66 



NANTUCKET. 



sociation of sea-kings known as the House 
of Commons, holding their almost con- 
stant sessions in their large room, pro- 
perly fitted, at the foot of Main street. 
Once there existed a House of Lords, 
composed of ship-owners, but time and 
change have wrought the dissolution of 
that august body. But the House of 
Commons remains with all its wisdom 
and dignity. What the members of this 
House do not know about seas and 
climes, ships and whales, is hardly worth 
knowing. Indeed, some of them know 
too much, but that is all the better for 
the story. They have lanced leviathans 
from the North Pole to the South Pole. 
It is true that one of their number, Capt. 
Wm. Cash, having met with a disaster 
when off Cape Horn, unhung, repaired 
and rehung his rudder, and for the feat 
received a handsome present from his 
underwriters. But there is a smell of 
fish about their story that one captain, 
in the Arctic Ocean, when bruised by 
bergs, unloaded on the ice, hove out, 
repaired, reloaded, and pushed on for a 
full ship. 

On account of the witnesses, we felt 
obliged to believe the story of a bonito 



that attempted to jump over the ship, 
but struck a tackle-block and fell on 
deck ; also the story that the bonito, af- 
ter having been cooked in a ladle of oil 
in the boiling try-works, and taken out, 
will indulge in a shake or jerk that 
throws all the flesh from the bony frame. 
As a proof that down-east navigators 
are not to be compared with Nantucket 
skippers, we give the story told to us by 
Mr. Buttman, engineer of the Island 
Home. Captain Dunham, of the brig 
Sarah Maria, sailed from Portland for 
the West Indies. When out forty days, 
doing his best, he made an imposing head- 
land with a massive light-house, and sup- 
posed he was near Moro Castle, in Cuba. 
Dropping anchor and dressing in white, 
he went ashore. Meeting the inhabi- 
tants, he judged from their color that 
they were Spaniards, and addressed 
them in the Spanish tongue. They stood 
amazed. Fearing his dialect was de- 
fective, he ventured in English to ask 
where he was. The Indians promptly 
informed him that he was on Gay Head. 
By the way, such voyages as that are 
only too common, though all do not 
reach Gay Head. 



Jlw MndmiU. 



Before landing here, as since, your eye 
has been arrested by that quaint old 
windmill on the high ground at the e.\- 
treme southern part of the town. It 
was built in 1746. The first miller, 
Swain, died in the building. They tell 
us that, years ago, a little girl who was 
catching short rides on the leisurely re- 
volving arms, was surprised by her dis- 
tance from the ground, and, clinging fast. 
was carried through a whole revolution. 
But you must visit the unique, oak-ribbed 
relic, have a chat with the Portuguese 
keeper, and enjoy from the upper win- 



dows one of the finest views of the 
islands. 

One may not marvel that of late 
Nantucket has been rapidly growing in 
the public esteem as a summer resort. 
Only a thorough knowledge of the island 
is necessary to increase this drift of sum- 
mer travel to the sunny yet cool and 
salubrious shores. Every visitor is de- 
lighted with the unique appearance of 
the whole territory, and with the serenity 
and majesty that reign undisturbed over 
bluff, vale and sea. Whether for physical 
or mental recuperation the traveler visits 



NANTUCKET. 




The Wreck, Nantucket. 



this beautiful old guard of our coast, he blood. Of the exhilarating air, the novel 
will return to his home with its praises on ' scenery, and the hospitable people, he 
his lips and the new wine of health in his ' will declare that the half was never told. 



Siadmn6el. 



For short the islanders pronounce this 
'Sconset, and we approve the euphony 
and economy. This locality, on the ex- 
treme eastern margin of the island, on 
the bluff, looking out calmly on the rest- 
less Atlantic, is already a select and 
popular place of summer resort and 
should be visited by every traveler. 

The jaunty express coach or box- 
wagon, a peculiarity of this island, leav- ; 
ing the town takes us over the beaten [ 
road, six rods wide, that measures seven 
and a half miles in length, each mile 
marked by a heavy granite whitewashed 
mile-stone, plainly figured in black. Soon ^ 
after leaving the town we pass the spot , 
on our left where the murderous-handed 
Indian, Quibby, was hanged. Beyond 
the first mile-stone on our right we leave 
the noted Agricultural Grounds. , 

Reaching the romantic village by the 
sounding sea you will be delighted. The 
vast Nantucket Shoal that here lies in view 
measures forty-five by fifty miles in extent. 

But here are two hotels, the Ocean 
View — happily named — and Atlantic 



I House — true to its title. The latter, a 
little south of the village, is near to a 
real summer resort for health seekers, 
called Sunset Heights. This bluff com- 
mands a majestic view of the sea on all 
sides. Here we have sea-bathing in all 
its charms. 

Much depends upon the spirit in which 
we view things. The irregular streets of 
j Siasconset recall the handsome compli- 
[ ment paid to the tangled thoroughfares 
of Boston by the polite Frenchman, M. 
De Chastellux : " Ah ver good, ver good ; 
it show de liberie. " ■ They tell us liberty 
is born among the hills. l.t is also born 
by the sounding sea, as is testified by 
the naval and army records of the Nan- 
tucketers. The billows cradle great and 
brave thoughts. 

Of the indigenous vehicles of the is- 
land, on the east side, one kind will win 
your attention and admiration. It is a 
genuine truck with only one wheel, and 
that exactly suited to the sandy roads and 
beaches. You would call it a long barrel, 
with the axle running through both heads. 



NANTUCKET. 



Though you laugh, you will praise the in- 
ventor. We amazed one of the inhabi- 
tants by calling the vehicle the chariot of 
Alexander the Great. 

The public square — the plaza — is 
marked by the town pump and its appro- 
priate setting, at the foot of Broadway, 
and is the centre of attraction. By it is 
the elegant cafe, dispensing ice cream 
and other luxuries a la carle. Nearby is 
the mercantile house of Capt. George W. 
Coffin, who is the President of the 'Scon- 
set Marine Club, an association kindred 
to the Chronometer Club, of New Bed- 
ford, the Corn Exchange, of Edgartown, 
and the House of Commons, of Nan- 
tucket. Captain Coffin is supported in the 
spring and autumn — the fishing seasons 
— by a body of vice-presidents and mem- 
bers of the Club that would do honor to 
the Chamber of Commerce in a city. 
Here are discussed the merits and de- 
merits of Nantucket Shoal and Congress, 
both being historic on account of fogs 
and wrecks. Near the plaza you will see 
the figure-head of a ship — a full sized 
female — in front of a cottage, and on 
the end of another cottage you will read 
names and emblems taken from wrecks, 
such as " Windsor, N. S.," " Shannunga," 
and the like. The lads of the town will 
show you, and possibly sell to you, Indian 
relics. 

The oldest house in 'Sconset is the one 
built by the somewhat famous Benjamin 
Franklin Folger, and was kindly shown 
to us throughout by Oliver C. Folger. 
We looked into the little seven by nine, 



Of these you can have a variety on 
Nantucket. By boat you can run to the 
green-pastured island of Tuckernuck, 
where are delightful places for picnics 
and clam-bakes, called squatums by the 
islanders. A very popular sail is that 



low-studded sleeping room, and admired 
the simplicity, contentment, industry and 
virtue of the olden times. 

In the spring and autumn the 'Sconset 
fishermen employ about 50 or 60 boats, 
and their fish command the first prices 
in the market. 

Sankaty Htad, the spot first seen by 
Gosnold, is but a little north of 'Sconset, 
and stands on a bluff 85 feet above the 
sea, and holds its light at an elevation 
of 65 feet, one of the best lights on our 
coast, shining by minute-long flashes. 

Still further north is Sachacha Pond, 
abounding in perch. Near this once 
stood Sachacha village, built near 1700 
for fishing purposes. 

At the north of 'Sconset and Sankaty 
Head, you find the limited hamlet of 
Quidnit, just above Sachacha Pond. 
Among the curiosities of this place you 
will find the "Hermit," F. Parker, in 
his cabin, that looks and smells as 
though it belonged to a period before 
the flood, but had been unharmed by 
that great washing. 

We have previously alluded to wrecks 
on these shores. It was on the south- 
eastern side of the island at a point in 
view from 'Sconset, that, on Christmas 
Day, 1865, the German ship, Newton, on 
her home way from New York, struck on 
the treacherous shoal and became a per- 
fect wreck, all her officers and crew, 
twenty-seven in number, perishing with 
her. Then, as only too frequently, there 
was " sorrow on the sea " and on the 
land. 



around Great Point on the east, where 
you meet the Atlantic's full swell. 

A favorite spot for pleasure parties 
is Wauwinet village, which is on the east 
shore of the long harbor arm — at the 
bottom of the sack — a point that com- 



NANTUCKET. 



69 




'Sconset, 

mands majestic views of sea and island. 
The spot is reached by boats running up 
the shoal arm of water, or by carriages 
through the sections known as North 
Pasture, Podpis and Squam. Here are 
fine hotels, the Wauwinet House and the 
Sea Foam House, that wisely cater to the 
throngs of visitors. 

From the Wauwinet House be sure 
and take a ride to the northern extremity 
of the island. You will first reach the 
Haul Over, where boats are hauled over 
from the head of the harbor to the At- 
lantic. Passing on, you will leave Cos- 
kata Pond on your left, and shortly reach 
a spot where was an old fishing station 
when shore-whaling was in vogue. But 
you will press on, though the wheels 
press well into the sand, up the tongue 
of land sometimes designated as Cos- 
kata to the extreme point called Nauma, 
where stands in lonely grandeur and sol- 
emn responsibility Great Point Light, to 
cheer the voyagers in the night. From 
this you may walk out upon the shore of 
Great Point and truly feel that you are 
well nigh at sea. The water view from 



this point is unequalled. The first light- 
house at Great Point was erected in 1784. 

A ride to the westward of the town 
takes you to the Uriah Gardner Hill, 
north of West Centre street, where 
stands the oldest house on the island, 
built in 1686, fronting due south in 
ancient style. To its heavy oak frame 
were added oak knees, as if the building 
were in part a ship, or it was expected 
the sea would sweep over the island. 
Bricks, in relief, were inserted in the 
huge chimney in the shape of a horse- 
shoe, to keep off the witches. These, 
or something better, have preserved the 
edifice from destroying spirits. 

Passing westward we come to Trot's 
Hill, with its old associations, and pas- 
sing Long Pond come to the site of the 
old town. But we must leave many 
localities to surprise you. 

Of course we must ride to the south 
shore or surf-side, past the Agricultural 
Grounds and the site of the old sheep- 
pens. Here, on the shore, is the Hu- 
mane House, erected by our Government, 
suitably furnished to aid wrecked vessels 



70 



NANTUCKET. 



and save men and cargoes. Near by, to 
the westward, is a cluster of cabins and 
store-houses belonging to fishermen, 
who, by the way, will tell you about the 
old "fishing-stages " here and at Peede, 
Sachacha and Quidnit. 

Perhaps beyond any region on our 
coast the shores and ponds of Nantucket 
are enlivened, particularly in the winter, 
by sea-fowl, ducks, gulls, wild geese and 
hawks. Some of the expert gunners 
still realize something of an income 
from their sales of ducks in the markets 
of Boston and New York. 

Fishermen will tell you of the terrible 
sea-fight witnessed from this shore on 
the loth of October, 1814, as many 
flocked to the beach to behold it, while 
the firing excited the whole island. The 
Yankee privateer. Prince of Neufchatel, 



Madequechem Pond. The British frigate, 
Endymion, one of Commodore Hardy's 
fleet, in pursuit of the privateer, hauled 
in as closely as she dared and sent her 
armed boats containing her first-lieuten- 
ant and 146 men to capture the Yankee 
keel and her prize. The Yankee had 200 
loaded muskets. The fight opened hotly 
and raged for more than half an hour. 
The British met a terrible repulse, only 
sixteen escaping to the Endymion, leaving 
104 dead by shot and sinking boats, and 
twenty-seven captured ; and of the twenty- 
seven surviving ten were wounded. 
Several on board the privateer were 
killed; among them Charles J. Hillburn. 
of Nantucket, who was acting as pilot. 

Many an old scene will rise, and many a 
tender thought will be kindled, if you enter 
the old burying-grounds of the island and 



with a prize-ship anchored off opposite , decipher the records of the head-stones. 



3Uh 



Perhaps you would like to go fishing. 
Possibly that sport and recreation was an 
object in your visit. You can have it in 
any measure that you may choose. If 
the weather be heavy and threatening, 
you can tramp to the ponds and pocket 
as many silver perch as you desire, pro- 
vided you know how to handle the rod 
and humor the game. But the real sport 
is outside. The waters that encircle and 
lave Nantucket teem with the finny fam- 
ily ; and the shores abound in shell-fish ; 
on these almost wholly the 1,500 aborig- 
ines subsisted when the whites found 
them. Here are crabs and eels in the 
creeks and coves ; clams, quahaugs, oys- 
ters and escalops in the shallows ; lob- 
sters, scup and tautog on the shoals ; 
mackerel, cod, haddock, blue-fish, bass, 
et ccetera, in a long piscatorial catalogue, 
in the sounds and deep sea ; and then, if 
you choose the heavy sport, sharks, por- 



poises and the great blubbery black-fish. 
Possibly, you may catch a view of a fin- 
back w lale, but you will never fasten to 
him. 

The favorite amusement and excite- 
ment is blue fishing. Just engage a 
Nantucket salt with his trim boat and 
full fishing-rig and make trial of it. 

The biggest fish have been known to 
make serious mistakes. Annalists of 
the early times tell us that the whales 
sometimes ventured too near the shoals 
and shore, perhaps following a shallow- 
finned leader, and fatally grounded at 
an ebb tide. The Indians, taking ad- 
vantage of the blunder or misfortune, 
pounced on the ocean lord and cut him 
up and feasted on his blubber. 

Long shall we think of our hurried but 
instructive tour, as hereafter we may sit 
by our fire-sides when return the medi- 
tative evenings of autumn. 



Chas. W. Si 
Since the 



Boston, April 31, 1879. 
:, Esq. : 
introduction of your "Patent 
Papered Wood Hangings," we have had you ap- 
ply over eight thousand (8,000) feet of dadoe in 
Black Walnut, White Wood, Butternut and Oak. 
We hare also used your Cedar and White Wood 
Hangings for Closets, Pantries and Bath-rooms. 
Your work has proved to be unaffected by damp- 
ness, steam or furnace heat, and while the cost is 
far below solid wood, you are enabled to give us 
the choicest varieties. The work you have justfln- 
ished for us, exceeds in elegance of woods and 
workmanship, all your former efforts. Accept our 



of the elegance and durability of this mode of dec- 
oration. Yours very trulv, &c 
146 Mt. Vernon St. BOtJKN & LEAVITT. 

^^ . , MiLFORD, Mass., April 17, 1879. 

It gives me pleasure to recommend these Wood 
Hangings, as not only handsome, but exceedingly 
durable. They have given me entire satisfaction. 
It IS nine years since the Hangings were put on 
ray dining-room - Bird's Eye Mapleand Black Wal- 
nut—and I cannot see but they are as good now as 
when first applied. I regard this as a severe test, 
tor the room has been in constant use by a large 
family ; and the waUs were old and not in very 




522 HARRISON AVE & 3 RANDOLPH ST. ^ 



^fi^-*fO SOlSlKllPllS,^"-?^ 

Don't grain your white painted doors and base boards or throw away the same, for you can have them 
covered with Wood Hangings more elegant and durabie. If your paper is soiled in Hall or Dining-room, 
put on a dadoe, which will cover up the soiled part and save the rest. They can be washed, and arc unaf- 
fected by steam, furnace heat or dampness. 

Halls, Libraries, Yestibules, Beception, Dining and Bath-rooms, furnished 
with these Woods improve with age. 

Dadoing on plastered walls. Base Boards and Doors covered directly upon the paint. " Haid-wood 
Ceilings " in every variety of light and dark fancy woods. 

^"Tourists and all others are cordially invited to visit the mill. 522 Harrison Avenue, and witness the 
operations by which these beautiful hangings are cut from the log and prepared. 



OHI^I^LES ^SAT. SIPTJI^R., 



Sole Manufacturer, 522 HarriBon Avenne, Boston. 

Warerooms: 209 Canal Street, 



New York. 



^ OLD COLONY LINE 



he Direct Rout 



To the Beautiful Summer Resorts of 



Oak Bluffs, Katama, Vineyard Highlands, and to Woods Holl, 

Falmouth Heights, Hyannis, Provincetown, Plymouth, 

Duxbury, Marshfield, Scituate, Cohasset, Nan- 

tasket, and all the 

And the South Shore of Massachusetts. 



OLD COLONY RAILROAD. 



Three Through Trains Daily (Sundays Excepted), between Providence and New Bedford dur- 
ing the Summer Season, connecting with Vineyard and Nantucket Steamers, Martha's 
Vineyard, River Queen, and Island Home. 



Excursion Tickets. Baggage Checked Through. 

Passengers landed directli/ alongside the Steamers. 

J. R. KENDRICK, Supt. 

iliy See Posters and Papers for Time of Trains and Connections. 



*- 



FROST & ADAMS. f* 



RUSTS' BIATERIALS 



OF EVERY DESCRIPTION. 



ARCHITECTS'fEN&IMERnTATIOlBUc. 

33 AND 35 CORNHILL, 

ItSftlL 



J. A. &R. A. REID, 

Publishers and Engravers, 

Providence, R. L 

Orders solicited and Estimates furnished when desired. 



liilM 

014 079 227 5 # 



Haines Bros., 



HAVE REMOVED TO 



1S4 FIFTH AVENUE 1S4 



Between I 7th and 18th Streets, 



-fi 



New York City,-*-^ 



WHERE THEY ARE EXHIBITING THEIR NEW $ ELEGANT UPRIGHT 



•^Pmno-Jfoj|les, 



WHICH ARE UNIVERSALLY ACKNOWLEDGED TO BE THE BEST 
NOW MANUFACTURED. 



AGENTS 



HUNT BROS., 



CORY BROS., 

PROVIDEKCE. 



II. J. BENNETT, 



FALL RIVER. 



